Fight for it
by darkroselight
Summary: Rhythmic Gymnastics champion Stephanie Plum, has been receiving threatening letters. After an attempted shooting, her safety is dropped in the lap of security guru Carlos Manoso. Will he be able to keep her alive until after the Olympics? Will Stephanie be able to keep her hands to herself surrounded by attractive MM and the Cuban god himself? Steph/Ranger full summary inside. AU.
1. Chapter 1

AN- This is what happens when I get bit by the Olympic bug while reading Janet Evanovich. This is a bit ooc, since I've made Steph an athlete, but the characters are going to keep their basic personalities and all of the things we love them for. I also had to make them a little younger.

Disclaimer- I am making no money off this. All Characters you recognize belong to JE. I'm just barrowing them for my own amusement. I am also not an Olympic expert so if I make up a few rules, just role with it, I promise to make it enjoyable. This goes for the whole story; I will not put one of these in ever chapter. If I was making money, I wouldn't post this on a fanfic site.

No Cupcakes were harmed in the making of this very Babe story. Helen Plum might get a few bruises though, depends on how mean my muse is feeling. Rating is for language, sexual themes, and a high chance of smut in later chapters.

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Fight for it

Chapter One

**Pov- Steph**

I set Rex down on the counter in his little glass aquarium. "Well here it is Buddy," I said giving the side of his cage a tap. "What do you think of the new place?"

The wood shavings in the corner twitched, but it looked like that was all I was going to get from my little guy. Hamsters were easy to take care of, but he wasn't the most talkative roommate. I filled his water bottle and gave him a few raisins before turning to look around the sparsely furnished apartment. What a mess. I grimaced at the boxes piled all over the place knowing that soon I would have to start unpacking them. "I know exactly what you mean."

There was a soft knock on the door and I called out, "Come on in, it's open."

My coach Amber came in looking ruffled. "Steph, you should have locked the door. You need to be more careful."

"Who's going to know that we're here?" I asked. "Wasn't that the point of dragging me back home?"

"You still need to be careful Stephanie." She pressed. "Until we find out who's been threatening you I want you to be extra careful with yourself, ok?"

I nodded, looking back around the room.

"Promise me." She pressed, hands on hips. "I want the words out of your mouth." Amber was only a hair above 5 feet tall, but no one could say that she didn't hold her own space. She stared me down like a mama lion until I nodded again.

"I promise Amber." I swore honestly. "I think you're over reacting, but I'll be careful."

"Who's overreacting?" Amber's twin brother, Brandon, came into the room and when he stopped next to his sister, he gave me the same frown she had. "Why was the front door open?"

I tried to look sheepish and failed. "Sorry Coach,"

Brandon's face softened and he pulled me into a giant hug, wrapping his long arms around me. "I know you're not thrilled about hiding out here for a bit, but do me a favor and humor Amber ok?" He asked. "She's a pain in the butt as it is and I don't need her ridding me anymore."

I chuckled as Amber gave him her patented 'look', eyes narrowed, arms crossed, foot tapping. "Trenton was your idea." She shot back.

Brandon nodded brushing his, always too long, black hair out of his face. "It's a good idea. Whoever's been threatening Steph will have heard we moved her, I doubt they'll think to look here, especially since we've been smearing it all over the press that we're going to California to get ready for this year's National competition."

Amber looked like she was going to start talking back so I held up my hands and groaned. "Can we please not go over this again?" I asked, tossing my coat onto the back of my couch and kicking off my shoes. "It's been a long day and I'm tired."

"Are you stiff?" Brandon asked.

I shrugged. "A bit,"

"Want me to stretch you out?" He offered, "We've got a training facility set up, but we can't start using it until tomorrow morning. We're going to pick you up at 7, bright and early so make sure you set your alarm tonight."

I waved him off, "I'll stretch later."

"Do you want any help with these boxes?" Amber asked, looking around at the piles of boxes that were all of my worldly possessions.

"No thanks Am." I said. "I'm just going to do the basics tonight anyway and head to bed early." We really hadn't moved that far, but I felt like a mess. I'd never traveled well.

Brandon gave me a sidelong look and I frowned. "What now?"

He pointed a stiff finger at his little twin sister and slid a step away from her. "Her fault, it was her idea." He said quickly.

"It's a good idea." Amber defended, "Besides you were the one who hired him."

"It was still your idea." Brandon said. "She can be mad at you."

"I can't believe your throwing me under the bus like this."

"I'm the nice coach remember." He taunted with a smirk. "You're the hard ass."

I watched them banter for a minute before it became clear that they were not going to get back on track. "What did you guys do?" I asked. "Who did you hire and for what?"

Amber stepped up in front of me and pouted with her bright green eyes. "Don't hate me ok?" She asked. "Someone here has to be the hard ass and I won't risk you getting hurt because we didn't take these threats seriously. This is your year to win it all and I don't want anything to happen to you. Ok? I'm just looking out for you."

I nodded and gave her a gentle smile seeing that she was genuinely concerned that I'd be mad. "I could never really hate you Am, just tell me what you did."

"I hired a local security company to provide protection for you while were here and to look into these threats and see if they can figure out where they're coming from. We have a meeting with the CEO in an hour to discuss what precautions we should take."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean like a bodyguard?"

"Bodyguards, maybe." She said with a shrug. "I know I want some security put here in your new apartment, possibly an escort to and from the gym."

"Every day?" I asked.

She nodded. "If that's what it takes to keep you alive."

"You're going to hire a baby sitter to follow me around every day."

Brandon stepped forward. "Don't think of it as a babysitter, think of it as-"

"Prison guard?" I offered.

"Someone took a shot at you!" Amber snapped at me using her Coach voice. "I know this sucks, but until we find out who wants you dead, you're getting a babysitter."

I swallowed hard at the memory of the shot I'd avoided two days earlier. Brandon and I had been standing outside of the private gym, he and Amber owned in New York City, when a car had driven by and put a bullet in the glass right between us. We'd gotten lucky, and the police hadn't been able to tell if the shooting was random or if it was linked to the threatening letter's I'd gotten. I was praying that it was a random drive-by gone wrong. Chances were good though, that someone really was serious about getting rid of me.

"Ok Amber," I agreed. "I'll meet with anyone you want me to. I promise."

She gave me a sympathetic smile and a hug, glad that I wasn't going to fight her anymore. "Thanks Steph, We'll give you some time to unwind ok?"

I nodded, "Sure, I'll meet you in the parking lot in an hour."

"Lock the door, when we leave." Brandon said, pulling me into another hug.

I walked them both to the door and then locked it behind them. When I walked back into the living room, I frowned at all of the boxes. I really didn't want to unpack. I grabbed a box that said 'bathroom' and decided to start with the essentials and I definitely wanted to take a shower before we went anywhere.

I cringed at the outdated orange and brown bathroom, but the temptation of a hot shower was too good to pass up. I soaked myself in the steamy water until the grim of travel was gone and then stood there trying to get my muscles to relax until all the hot water was gone and my skin was pink.

I brushed out my hair, tying it up and out of the way before returning to the living room in my towel to try and find some clean clothes. I tore through a bunch of boxes, finding all of my work out clothes, but no nice 'real' clothes. By the time I gave up, I only had ten minutes to get down stairs. I pulled on a pair of tights and some work out shorts covering them up with a pair of light jeans I'd managed to find. I pulled on a sports bra and a tank top groaning when I couldn't find a blouse. I rolled my eyes; maybe I should just wear a leotard.

There was a knock at my front door and I want out to answer it, remembering to look through the little peep hole first. It was Brandon and Amber. I looked at the clock and realized I was five minutes late to meet with them.

I pulled open the door and started apologizing. "Sorry, sorry. I can't find any of my clothes." I turned and dived back into the living room, ripping open another box marked 'clothes'. Half of the boxes were marked 'clothes'. I should have been more specific when I was packing.

"Steph, calm down, honey." Amber said passing me a shirt, she'd carried in with her. "I thought you might need some help. Wear this."

I grabbed the shirt. It was a cute, light blue, button up blouse. "This is great, thanks Am." I tossed the tank top away and buttoned up the new shirt.

"Come on ladies." Brandon called from the door. "We're going to be late."

I slid on some of my training shoes, not willing to start cutting open the boxes marked 'shoes' and snagged my purse as Brandon pulled me out the front door. I hoped into the back of Amber's little black car and roared off.

A few minutes later, we pulled up to a plain looking building on Haywood Street. Brandon glanced down at his map. "You sure this is the right place?"

"I think so." Amber said.

"I don't see a sign."

I pointed to a turn that led down to an underground parking lot. "Go to the call box and ask if this is the right building."

Amber pulled in and pressed the little call button. A moment later, a man's voice spoke up. "RangeMan security." He said. "Do you have an appointment?"

"My name's Amber Stasiuk." Amber said. "I have a meeting with Mr. Manoso at 5."

We were buzzed into the parking garage and took an elevator to the main floor. An attractive Hispanic man, dressed in an all black uniform, was waiting for us and he introduced himself as Lester Santos. "Mr. and Miss Stasiuk, welcome." He said politely, shaking hands with Amber and Brandon. Then his eyes moved to me and he smiled wider. "You must be Miss Plum?" He asked.

I held out my hand and nodded. "That's me. It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is ours." He directed us back to the elevator and said. "Right this way. We'll be meeting with the rest of the core team up on the third floor."

Lester led us into a small conference room with a large circular table. A few other men were already seated and Lester introduced them as they stood to greet us.

Lester waved one man forward and I swear, he was the biggest guy I'd ever seen in my life. "This is our second in command. You can call him Tank."

"I can see why." Over 6 feet tall, skin like the night, and build like a wall. Tank certainly had a fitting name. The gun on his hip only made the picture more menacing.

A couple of the guys turned to look at me and Amber giggled. "You said that out loud Honey."

I blushed. "Sorry, I do that a lot." and I'd been trying to stop it for years.

"Not a problem Ma'am." Tank assured me shaking my hand.

Lester nodded to the next man who came up to meet us. "This is Bobby, our company medic and the little quiet one behind him is Hector." He nodded to the last man in the room, who had not stood to greet us. "I understand you want to install some of our security features into Miss Plum's new apartment?"

Amber nodded. "Yes, I want her to be completely safe."

"Then Hector's your guy." Lester said. "He's our tech pro. He'll hook her up once we decide exactly what you'll need."

I shook hands with Bobby and thanked him when he pulled out a seat for me to sit in. I was sitting across from Hector and I smiled at him when we locked eyes. He nodded back, but kept his face blank. Like Lester, Hector had the tanned skin of a Hispanic background. His hair was buzzed short and I counted a number of tattoo's poking out from beneath his clothing, the most interesting being the set of teardrop's below his right eye. It didn't take a genius to recognize them as gang marks.

There was a knock on the door as soon as we were settled and another man dressed all in black came into the room. I smirked to myself, all of the guys in this building so far had been fairly attractive, but this one was definitely my favorite.

He was just about the same height as Brandon and his skintight black shirt showed off a perfectly toned body. He skin was a shade darker then Lester's and his long black hair was pulled back with a leather tie. There were two diamond studs in his left ear and I wondered briefly if his skin would taste as good as he looked. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, he glanced at me and I sunk my teeth into my lip to make sure I didn't say that out loud.

He introduced himself as Carlos Manoso, saying that most people just called him Ranger and took a seat at the head of the table. "Why don't we start with an overview?" He said, and I had to tear my gaze away when he looked at me again. "Can you tell us exactly what's been going on?"

Amber nodded, pulling several papers out of her bag and leaning forward to get everyone's attention. I bit back a smirk when all of the RangeMan guys turned to look at her rather than Brandon.

"My brother, Brandon, and I own and run a private gym in New York City." She started. "We train professional gymnastic athletes." She nodded at us. "Stephanie is currently our star pupil."

I blushed when everyone glanced at me and fought not to look down at my hands. I'd been working hard for as long as I could remember to get to this point. I should be proud of the name I'd made for myself.

"A few weeks ago," She continued. "Stephanie received a threatening letter, demanding that she not compete in this year's National Championship competition, which is of course impossible."

"Why?" Ranger asked softly. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we should know as much information as possible." He explained. "What is it about this particular competition that makes it so important that Miss Plum compete?"

Amber nodded. "Of course; no problem. The National Championship is the most important competition of the entire year, especially _this_ year. It's where scouts from the Olympic Games will be coming to pick out the athletes who will be representing our country in this year's summer Olympic Games. They've been watching all of the countries athletes since the last games."

"Stephanie's a sure in for the American team." Brandon said, speaking up for the first time. "She competed in the last games as well and her scores have only gotten better since then. But, she has to be in the competition in order to qualify."

"Of course, she'll qualify." Amber agreed, "As long as she doesn't get shot first." She pushed several pieces of paper across the table towards Ranger. "There were two more letters after the first, these are copies of them. They all say the same basic thing. They don't want her competing, because they know she'll win if she does, and it will be an upset in the world of Olympic Gymnastics."

"Why?" This time the question came from Lester. "I get them not wanting to lose," He continued. "But why would it be considered an upset?"

I wasn't surprised that they didn't' know. Rhythmic Gymnastics wasn't the most popular sport, even in Olympic circles, and I was doubting that this room of big, strong, men had ever even heard of it before Amber reached out to them.

"Because an American's never won before." I said before I even realized the words had left my mouth. "We've never even placed for a medal. I came in fifth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. That's the highest an American woman has ever scored in Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastics. The sport is completely dominated by the Soviet Nations. Russia, Belarus, The Ukrainian every year it's the same thing. They fight each other. Most of the rest of the world's not even considered real competition."

"Until Stephanie came along." Brandon said with a smirk. "She's the all around favorite right now and the standout in some of the individual elements. If she goes to the London Games, there is a very good chance she'll place high enough for a medal and she's fully capable of going as high as the gold."

I tried not to blush at the high praise. I knew I was good. I worked hard. I had already earned a handful of national titles, but none of them counted next to an Olympic Medal. I wanted to bring the gold home for the U.S.A. I wanted to be the first American woman to ever place in Rhythmic Gymnastics. I wanted one moment to prove I could fly.

"So you think someone, possibly from another country, is trying to knock Stephanie out so she can't compete in the Olympics?" Tank asked.

Amber nodded. "I'm sure of it. Along with the letter's there was also an attempted shooting at our gym in New York City."

"You didn't mention a shooting." Ranger said his eye flickering to me again. For just a moment, I held his gaze and wondered what he was thinking behind that blank face.

Brandon nodded, "The shooting happened after I originally called you. Two days ago a gunman took a pot shot at Steph and myself while we were in front of the gym. Fortunately for us, he missed."

"Barely," I muttered and Amber smirked at me. She loved it when I spoke my thoughts aloud.

"What happened exactly?" Bobby asked, looking at me.

I shrugged. "We were just standing in front of the gym, talking. I didn't see the car until it was right next to us on the road. A gunman in the back seat took one shot at us and the bullet went through the glass window right between us. We couldn't have been more than a foot apart."

I watched as Bobby and Ranger locked eyes for only a moment, but I had a feeling they were talking to each other. "I hate to tell you this." Bobby said, "But I don't think he missed. Shooting from a moving car is hard, but at a close distance, you'd have been an easy target from the road. If someone from another country is really going through all this trouble, they won't hire someone below par. This first shot was probably a warning to prove to you that your stalker is serious about getting rid of you, one way or the other."

Then for the first time since this whole mess started, I truly felt scared. There was really a nutcase out there trying to kill me. He could have just as easily hit Brandon if he'd wanted too. What if they'd shot at Amber? What better way to send a message then to kill one of my coaches?

"Someone needs to watch Amber and Brandon too." I said, fiercely. I glanced over at Amber. "What about the others?" I asked her, turning to look at Ranger. "The gym's not safe for any of them is it? If they want me to stop bad enough would they go after my team, my coaches?"

"What others?" Ranger asked.

Amber rubbed at my arm and gave me a small smile. "Brandon and I are currently working with five gymnasts. They all have access to the gym anytime they want it."

"Are your other students going to be coming to Trenton?" Lester asked.

Brandon shook his head. "We didn't think that would be necessary with Steph leaving. We've let it leak to a few different press agents that Stephanie will be moving to California for some intense training to get ready for Nationals."

"It seems to me that anyone who's been watching you won't fall for that." Ranger said. "Not if they see the two of you there. How often does a professional athlete leave their gym and their trainer's right before a big match?"

I shook my head. "Not often; and it's not a secret that I've been working with Amber and Brandon for my entire professional career. They took me on right out of high school."

"Will the two of you be staying in Trenton with her?" Tank asked.

Brandon shook his head. "No, not full time. We had planned to take turns being here and back in New York. While Steph is clearly our strongest player right now, we have four other girls on our team who need our attention too."

Ranger shook his head. "It'll be dangerous to have you going back and forth. All someone will need to do is to follow you here and they've found her again."

Amber bit her lip. "We hadn't thought of that."

"You've done a good thing in getting Steph here." Bobby said. "and the press leak will trick them for awhile, but eventually they'll realize she's not in California and start looking for her. You two are the most obvious place to start if someone was trying to find her."

"Is there any reason someone could tie you to Trenton?" Tank asked looking over at me. "Have you ever been here before?"

I nodded. "I was born here. My parents are still living in the house I grew up in." They didn't look to pleased about that. "But," I added quickly. "I haven't been here in years. I had a big falling out with my mom a few years ago and I never came back."

Ranger and his guys talked for another hour, asking questions and tossing around ideas. Ranger had some friends in New York who would send him the information from the police report Brandon and Amber had filed when I'd gotten the first letter and a security company they'd worked with in the past was willing to keep an eye on the gym.

Then came the hard part. Amber and Brandon couldn't travel back and forth to meet with me if they were also going to keep up with the other girls. Ranger thought it would be possible to sneak them back a couple of times, but it was safest for everyone involved if they picked one location and stayed.

"I'll stay here with Steph." Amber said quickly and it didn't surprise me. Amber was the one who worked with me regularly, she'd been the one who had approached me at my last high school met and asked if I'd ever considered seeking professional training.

Brandon was a traditional men's Gymnast and while he and I got along great, he couldn't give me the technical help I needed since he wasn't a rhythmic gymnast. I mostly saw Brandon in warm-up or when I was cooling down after a workout. He ran my weight lifting workouts and acted as our gym's medic, handling the everyday injuries of being a gymnast. I also knew I couldn't take Amber away from the gym.

"Amber you can't stay." I said sadly. "What about the others. They have competition's coming up too. Leslie and Cat are both performing at National's this year too, they'll need your attention."

"Brandon can't work with you right, it has to be me." She argued back. "He'll be able to take care of the younger girls."

I gave her my own look and she just shrugged. "I can't leave you alone." She pressed. "We need to be pushing hard these next couple of weeks. You have five routines to nail down."

"I already know the routines Am." I told her, we'd been working on them for months already. I could do them with my eyes closed. As much as I was desperate to stay with Amber and Brandon right now, I was starting to think that they might be safer away from me. "These next couple of weeks are just going to be about muscle memory and cleaning out the exchanges. I can do that on my own."

Amber opened her mouth to argue with me when Brandon spoke up. "Amber," He said softly, catching my eye. He stared at me for a moment longer before gently nodding his head to me. "I think she's right."

"Are you out of your mind?" Amber asked waving a hand at me. "We've put 7 years of work into her! We can't abandon her right now."

"You're not abandoning me." I promise her. "I'll call you every day. You can yell at me on speaker phone while I workout."

Lester laughed and I shot him a grin. "She likes to yell at me."

"Motivation is not yelling." Amber defended.

"With you it is." Brandon added.

"It is the safest way." Ranger pressed. "For Stephanie as well as yourselves and for your other students. Where were you planning to train while you are in town?" He asked looking at me.

I shrugged and looked to Amber. She nodded and pulled out a map of the area showing him a building she'd circled in red ink. "We rented out a gym space near the big mall down route one. We sent up some equipment. It's not the best, but it's private." Amber said quickly.

Ranger shook his head. "That's forty-five minutes away from here. Even with our security camera's in place it would take us to long to get there if she needed help fast."

"We couldn't find any place closer." Brandon said. "Not that still met our requirements."

"What sort of requirements do you have?" Lester asked. "Maybe we can help you find somewhere closer."

Amber pulled out yet another picture from her folder of things and I was embarrassed to see that it was a shot of me from one of my last competitions. In the photo, I was wearing a black and gold show leotard posed to start my dance with a matching black ribbon in my hands.

Amber ignored me and pointed to the floor mat I was standing on. "Her standard performance mat is 43feet long both ways." She said. "Any space Stephanie is going to practice in has to be able to hold the full sized mat as well as her weight lifting equipment. She'll also need a way to play her music so she can work to it."

"So you really just need a giant space." Lester said. "If you have all of the equipment here already, it wouldn't have to actually be a gym."

"I guess not." Amber said. "You have some place in mind?"

Lester looked over at Ranger and I sensed more silent communication. "You're thinking about the warehouse." Ranger said.

Lester nodded. "We got the last of the stuff moved into the building last week. Its big, its empty, we've already got camera's in it, and its only two blocks away. How long would you need it?" He asked looking to Amber. "When is the National Competition?"

"Three weeks," She said. "But, we need to be there a week early so Steph can settle in, she doesn't travel well."

I rolled my eyes when everyone glanced at me again and felt my cheeks turn pink. "Not my fault."

"It's a good idea." Ranger said nodded. "Tank can take you over to see it tonight, if you'd like." He offered, looking at Amber. "You can check it out and make sure it will meet with all of your requirements. If it does we can have your things brought in tomorrow and Stephanie can use it while she's here in Trenton."

"Excellent."

Conversation started to wrap up then. Ranger and Hector were going to come out and look over my apartment tomorrow morning and see what security measures they thought would be appropriate there. Amber still wasn't happy about not being able to stay, but I promised over and over that I would keep up on my work. I'd always had a strong work ethic and it helped that I really wanted to go to London.

"Fine," She finally agreed sourly. "But, you're going to call me every day with updates. You remember the changes we made in the ribbon number?"

I nodded. "You changed the counts on the ending."

"And make sure you work on that section in the middle of the Ball routine. That's your weakest apparatus."

I nodded. "Amber, I promise."

"We'll have to send you your show wardrobe once we get the pieces, so you can practice in them." Brandon added. "Don't over work yourself." He said narrowing his eyes at me. "Practice strong, not all night. I want you getting plenty of sleep."

"Yes Dad."

He smirked at me and a couple of Ranger's men laughed. "Smart ass."

"We'll stay tomorrow," Amber said. "We can go home on Sunday. Is that ok?"

Ranger nodded. "Should be fine."

Everyone started to stand up and I winced when my hip cracked. Brandon didn't miss it and was at my side instantly his hands ghosting over my shoulders and down my sides. "You're stiffening up."

I nodded. "Didn't get a chance to stretch yet."

"We passed a park on the way over here." He said. "There's more room there, then in your new apartment. Let's go now and I'll help you loosen up."

"We have a gym downstairs, if you'd like to use it." Ranger offered.

Brandon nodded. "Thank you, that's very generous."

"I'll show you the way." Lester offered.

"Brandon, let her go." Amber said. "I want you to come and look at this warehouse with me."

He nodded. "Alright," He looked at me. "We'll come pick you up when were done and I'll rub you down then."

Amber and Brandon left with Tank and I offered my hand to Ranger. "Thanks for everything you guys are doing for me." I said. "I really appreciate it."

The corner of his mouth turned up as he took my hand, kissed my knuckles, and said. "No problem Babe."

I smiled at the little pet name, enjoying the way his strong hand felt in mine. Getting the chance to look at him up close I admired just how beautiful he was. A strong jaw and a confident stance that proved he knew what he wanted and was used to getting it. "And thanks for letting me use your gym tonight." I added, tearing my gaze away from the stud's in his ear. "I promise not to trip, twist an ankle, and sue you."

The little lip quirt came back and I bit back a sigh. "I'd appreciate that."

He left then without another word and Lester moved in to take my arm. "Right this way Beautiful. This works out well actually, I didn't get a chance to work-out this morning. Now I can tell everyone I've trained with an Olympian."

I smiled." Bet you break a sweat before I do."

His mouth fell open as he turned his disbelieving brown eyes on me. I crossed my arms over my chest and stuck out a hip confidently. What can I say, I'm competitive.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked.

I looked him up and down. Lester was definitely in shape. He had strong arms and a well-defined chest. Clearly, Ranger made sure that all of his men stayed in shape. "Ex-military?" I guessed.

He smiled. "Active duty actually." He corrected. "I'm between tours right now, but I keep in shape."

"Thank you for serving our country." I'd always admired military personnel. "My Dad's Ex-military."

"Which branch?" He asked.

"Army." I said proud.

He smiled a bright smile, full of white teeth that shone next to his tanned skin. "Good man; Me too. I'm still going to kick your butt in the gym."

"Play nice, Les." Bobby said as he moved past us. "She's our client, and I think that little Amber would kill you if you injured her prize athlete."

"She was kind of scary." Lester agreed.

I giggled and nodded when they looked to me. "Amber's a force to be reckoned with," I agreed.  
"but she really is very sweet, and she's an amazing coach to work with."

Hector left with Bobby, and then Lester led me out into the hall and over to the elevator pointing out all of the interesting things in the building while we walked.

We took the elevator down to the basement level and Lester pointed out the gun range that RangeMen employees used. "And this is the gym." He said swiping his ID pass and letting us into a small, but well stocked gym.

Equipment ran along most of the walls leaving the center clear for open mat space. There were only a couple of other men currently using the space and they gave us both an odd look as Lester led me over to the side of the mats.

"Ok," He said. "This is your show, where do we start, and I bet you'll break that sweat first."

I smirked and undid the button on my jeans. "First we change." I said looking down at his combat boots and cargo pants. He also had a gun on his hip and I caught the handle of a knife coming out of his boot. "You're not going to work out in those are you?"

He watched as I made a bit of a show at pulling down my jeans and laid them out next to the mat along with my shoes. He eyed my tiny black short and I smirked. "Not sweating already are you?" I teased.

He shook his head and snapped his eyes back to my face. "You're not the first pretty lady who's striped for me."

"Good, that would have been too easy." Then I pulled off the blouse, slowly popping each button open. I'd taken off my tank-top back at the apartment so that left me working out in my sports bra. "Go get changed." I said while he was ogling what little chest I had. "I'll meet you on the mats."

He left and I gave a little finger wave to the other men watching as I walked out onto the mats and started with just some basic stretches. When he walked, back in I upped the anti and rolled onto my forearms and let my toes touch the back of my head.

He rolled his eyes as he walked over and sat on the mats in front of me. "Show off."

"You challenged the gymnast to a flexibility contest." I reminded him a little smug." I've been able to do this since I was four years old."

He leaned forward and touched his toes. "I didn't say flexibility contest, I said you'd break a sweat first."

"Of course I will, if I'm doing all of the hard moves."

He stretched for a little bit while I sat back down and ran through a quick set of harder stretches to make sure all of my muscles were warmed up. Brandon would kill me if I pulled something because I hadn't stretched out properly.

"I can do a handstand." Lester offered leaning over and kicking his feet up above his head. He walked around on his hands for a bit before tucking into a roll and getting back to his feet.

"Very nice."

We stretched together for a while and while it was obvious I had the better flexibility, Lester surprised me a few of the moves he pulled off.

"I do yoga." He said, when I asked him about it. "It's good for core strength and not a bad idea for releasing some of the stress that builds up around here. It's useful in the bedroom too." He added, wagging his eyebrows at me.

I laid back on the mat and sighed, enjoying the warm flush of being in the gym. My heartbeat slightly faster than normal, my breath coming just a touch faster. "I feel better now."

"Want to go for a run?" Lester asked offering me a hand as he nodded to the treadmills lined along the far wall.

I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. "Sure." As we walked over, I noticed we'd drawn a bit of a crowd. Several more of the RangeMan guys had suddenly appeared, working out while they watched us. Actually, I was guessing they were just watching me. Probably wondering who I was and what I was doing here.

"You're not used to having a girl in this gym are you?" I asked Lester.

He smirked. "They just want to see the hot girl in her bra. You're also the first girl who's ever been in this gym. RangeMan does not currently have any women employed on our field team and our house keeper is not required to log gym time."

"We'll then we should give them a good show."

"What did you have in mind?" He asked raising an eyebrow at me.

I turned around and looked back at the stretch of open mat behind us. "Can you do any flips, Lester?"

He shook his head. "Not really, what kind of flip?"

I took a running start and moved into a set of flips. Front flip, back flip, double flip, no hands. I stuck the landing and waved back at Lester. "That kind."

He shook his head. "Not a chance, Beautiful. You want me to break my neck?"

I returned to his side and we moved onto the tread mills, setting an even paced jog. I found that I was really enjoying the new atmosphere of working out with Lester. I couldn't remember the last time I'd trained with a guy who wasn't Brandon and found myself pushing harder to prove I could match him step for step.

"How long has it been since you've been to Trenton?" Lester asked, breaking our comfortable silence.

He glanced at me when I didn't respond right away and I shrugged. "Four years."

"You mind me asking why?" He asked. "You said you had some sort of problem with your mom. What happened?"

I kicked up the speed on my treadmill and tried not to scowl. There was no way for him to know what a sore topic this was for me. "She doesn't like my job."

He gave me a funny sort of look. "She's not proud that her daughters an Olympic athlete?" He asked. "Isn't that as high as an athlete can go?"

I kicked up the speed again, trying in vain maybe to outrun the memories of my mother that Lester was bringing up. I'd excepted a long time ago that we'd never see eye to eye on my choice of career, but it had hurt when she'd asked me to leave all those years ago.

"She blames the Beijing games for my marriage falling apart." I admitted.

"You were married?"

I nodded. "For about five minutes. Then I caught him, pants down, with my arch-nemesis on our brand new dining room table. It turned into the loudest divorce in Burg history."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Good for you Beautiful, kick his cheating ass to the curb. I would have loved to have seen that."

"Oh I kicked his ass all the way around Trenton," I assured him. "Raised holy hell and lost nearly everything in the divorce at the same time."

"Why's that?" He asked.

I sneered. "Because a 'good' Burg wife lets her husband handle the money so everything was in his name." I said remembering the words in my mother's voice as she'd spoken them to me. "A good wife would be home more often, cleaning and cooking, not wasting all of her time at the gym doing silly dances." I continued, letting myself fall into a much needed rant. "She'd focus on giving her husband children and getting diner on the table at the right time. God forbid the pot-roast be five minutes late to that damned table. If I'd been home more often, maybe Dickie wouldn't have had to look for comfort in the arms of another woman, like that stupid skank Joyce Barnhart!"

I stepped off the treadmill hard and bent over at the waist trying to catch my breath. Lester joined me, passing me a bottle of water.

"Thanks," I sipped at the cool water and stood up forcing myself not to drink to fast.

"No problem." He said. "Sounds like you've been bottling that up for a while."

I shook my head. "It's just being back in this town." I told him. "Brings up bad memories. I fought Brandon when he suggested I come here. I'm sorry I dumped that on you."

Lester took my hand and led me out onto the mats again. "Wait here." He grabbed a set of red boxing gloves off the wall and handed them to me. "You ever box before?"

I shook my head, eyeing the padded gloves. "No"

He stepped forward and helped me put the gloves on, tightening them around my wrists before grabbing a set of black pads and standing opposite of me. "It's great for releasing stress." He explained. "It also gives you the chance to hit something. Let me show you a few of the basic steps."

He showed me a couple of beginner hits and blocks and we fell into an easy passed patter of swinging and ducking. This was a new exercise and it wasn't long before my arms were aching and I was drenched in sweat.

"Keep going." Lester said when I moved to stop.

I swung at him and he absorbed the hit into his pad and swung at my head. I ducked and moved to hit him again.

"Hit harder," He coached, pressing forward. "I can take it."

I blew my bangs out of my face and narrowed my eyes, letting myself fall into the same sort of zone I used when I was running moves with Amber. I hit harder and Lester pressed back faster. All of a sudden, Lester broke our pattern. He swung left fast and cuffed me in the shoulder, knocking me to the side and I fell to one knee.

"What was that?" I demanded, pushing myself back up.

He smiled at me, raising his gloves. "Boxing,"

"You hit me."

"You can't always rely on things being the same." He said. "This isn't gymnastics. In boxing, your opponent gets to hit you back."

I rolled my eyes. "Trying to play Yoda now?"

He bounced on the balls of his feet and flashed me another big smile with those adorable dimples. "Admit that you feel better." He taunted.

"What if I don't want to?" I shot back.

"Then you're a liar as well as a terrible boxer."

I brushed sweat off my forehead and pulled the gloves off. I was soaked in sweat, my arms were stiff and my whole body ached. I felt great. "I do feel better."

He hung our gloves back up and nodded to the front of the gym where Amber and Brandon were just coming in. "Looks like your coaches are back."

"Thanks for working out with me, Lester."

He smiled. "Anytime."

"I'm going to take you up on that." I promised. "With Amber and Brandon gone I'm going to need someone to kick my butt."

"Beautiful, I'll kick your butt anytime," He promised. "But in truth," He added with a smirk. "I can think of better ways to blow off stress then boxing."

I swung my leg up and caught him in the hip. "Pervert."

He laughed and dodged my second kick. "Hey," I said suddenly, remembering the bet we'd made. "You won the bet." I pointed out, waving a hand down my sweat soaked clothes. His shirt was damp too, but not as bad as mine was. "What do you want?"

He stepped back a pace as Brandon and Amber came forward. "Rain check, Beautiful. I'll let you know when I think of something really good."

Brandon ran me through a short cool down workout while I told him about boxing with Lester. Once he'd rubbed me down and was convinced that I was fine, he helped me up and had me change. A black SUV followed us to my apartment. Ranger was setting a man to watch the building overnight since my security system wouldn't be in place until tomorrow.

"Good night Steph." Amber said laying a kiss in my hair as she and Brandon let themselves out of my apartment. They'd gotten a room at a hotel just outside of town. I dropped some hamster crunchies into Rex's cage, fed myself a peanut butter and olive sandwich on gross whole-wheat bread and gave my living room of boxes a displeasing look. Where were my pillows?

* * *

~Darkrose

R&R. Let me know if I'm completely out of my mind for loving this idea.

**Olympic fun fact**- Rhythmic gymnastics was first introduced as a legit sport in 1940 when the first Rhythmic competitions started. The sport was first brought to the Olympics in the 1984, Los Angelis, Olympic world Games.

If you are interested in watching a bit of Rhythmic gymnastics, and I would suggest you do if you are unfamiliar with the sport just so you understand what _my_ Stephanie does for a living, I would recommend looking up a wonderful athlete named Anna Bessonova and watching her Beijing Olympic performances. She is my personal favorite.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter. I'm such an Olympic junkie, this story have been lots of fun to work on. It's also been very interesting researching Olympic rules and judging as well. I hope you all continue to read and enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 2

**Pov- Stephanie**

I was once again balancing on my forearms when someone knocked on the front door and broke my focus. I dropped to my feet and scurried to the door, the clock on my microwave said it was only 7:30 in the morning. I reached for the lock, than remembered to look out of the peephole. It was Ranger.

I undid the locks and pulled the door open to find both Ranger and Hector standing in the hallway, dressed in RangeMan black.

"Morning," I greeted.

Hector nodded in return, but it was Ranger I kept my eyes locked on. He really was very handsome, all dark eyes and silent power. He ran his eyes over me and I blushed, realizing I was only dressed in my tights and a black leotard. The skirt on the outfit was so short it didn't even count. I hadn't expected anyone to interrupt my morning warm-ups or I would have put on shorts.

"Glad to see your up." Ranger said moving into the room. "I was afraid we'd wake you."

Hector followed him in and went straight to work, with his bag of gear.

"I'm usually up early." I admitted crossing over to the couch where I'd tossed my old robe. I slid the worn yellow fabric over my shoulders and knotted the belt twice.

I watched as Hector moved around taking measurements and looking out windows. He pointed to my bedroom door and spoke quickly in Spanish. Ranger responded and then looked over to me. "Hector only speaks Spanish." He explained when he saw my raised eyebrow. "He'll need access to the whole apartment to make sure we cover all of the entrances. He asked if he can go into the bedroom."

I nodded. "No problem, the fire escapes in there too."

Ranger relayed my answer and Hector let himself into my room. I was trying to remember where I'd thrown my panties from last night and praying I hadn't left them on the floor. At least, if I had, they were cute.

"Sorry, I haven't unpacked yet." I added when Hector nearly tripped on a couple of boxes, marked with big black questions marks. I'd partly trashed the room looking for things last night and I'd left a lot of boxes on the ground, their contents spilling over every surface.

He said something back and I looked to Ranger for translation.

"He's fine." Ranger nodded to the glass aquarium on my kitchen counter. "Is he your only roommate?" He asked as Rex wiggled out of his soup can and checked to see if I'd given him breakfast yet. I hadn't, sorry Rex.

I nodded to Ranger, pulling a few grapes out of my poorly stocked fridge and dropping them into his food bowl. "Yes, but Amber and Brandon both have keys."

He nodded. "We'll have locks put on the door, the windows, and the fire escape. You'll have a code to disarmed them if you want to open anything and we'll give you a key fob for the front door. If the alarms aren't disarmed our control room will give the word and my men will be here within ten minutes. If you need help, try to wait that long. Do you have any weapons?

I shook my head. "You mean like a gun or something? No." My performance clubs probably didn't count, they really weren't heavy enough to do any damage anyway.

He pulled a contraption out of his own gear bag and passed it to me. "Stun gun," He explained, showing me how to work it. "Carry it in your pocket anytime you leave the apartment and make sure it stays charged. You might want to keep it within reach when you go to sleep as well."

Ranger also armed me with a can of pepper spray, reminding me to stay upwind if I ever had to use it or I'd hit myself too. He gave me a set of panic buttons. One I was to keep on my person at all times. The other I should hide in the apartment so I could try and get to it if I needed help.

"Lastly," He said as Hector came back out of my bedroom. He held out a silver bracelet and hooked it around my wrist.

"You're giving me a bracelet?" I asked.

"Tracker." He explained. "Keep it on. If something happens and you're abducted do everything you can to keep this with you. My men and I will be able to follow you."

I looked at the loose band and shook my arm. "I can't wear this when I'm training." I told him, moving my arm so he could see it slid up and down my wrist. "It's too loose, it will get in the way and it will cut me when I have to put weight on my forearms."

"Wear it as often as you can for now." He offered. "I'll look into finding something different."

I nodded. "Ok,"

There was a rap on the door and Amber let herself in followed closely by Brandon. She had a bag, which I hoped was breakfast and looked shocked to see Ranger and Hector already here working away.

"Morning," She said. "How's it going?"

Ranger spoke quickly to Hector who nodded and replied shortly. Ranger looked back to us and nodded. "Hector will set everything up, but it will take a little while. Do you have anywhere you need to go until then?"

Brandon nodded. "Amber and I are going to oversee the moving of our gym equipment. The warehouse you've offered is a good fit."

"Once that's done, we'll spend the day kicking this little missy's butt." Amber added nodding at me.

I smiled. "Can't wait."

"What about you?" Ranger asked, looking at me.

I shrugged. "I was going to go for a run and take a shower. I can hang around here if you need me to though. I should probably stop by my parent's house too." I added the last bit with a frown. I wasn't looking forward to going home, but it had been over a year since I'd seen my father or my grandmother and I missed them.

Ranger shook his head. "Not a good idea to go out alone." He looked over to Amber. "Call Tank when you need him and he'll meet you at the warehouse to let you in." He looked back to me. "I'll go with you."

"You want to go running with me?"

He smirked. "Afraid you can't keep up?"

I narrowed my eyes and heard Amber chuckle. She knew how competitive I was at my very core. By challenging me, Ranger had unknowingly made sure I'd say yes. I never backed down from a challenge and I really didn't like to lose. "Let me go change."

Ten minutes later, I was dressed in black shorts and a bright tank top. If he was faster then I was, hopefully the color and cleavage could give me a fighting chance. Ranger had changed too though I wasn't sure where he'd gotten the clothes from. He led the way down the stairs and out to the street which gave me a good chance to admire his butt, and spot the gun he'd tucked against the small of his back.

"Do you always carry a set of running clothes with you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, I was planning on running later so these were in the car already; Ready?"

I took off at a quick passed jog without answering, heading down the street. It didn't take Ranger long to catch up and he met me step for step. We ran several blocks before Ranger picked up his pace and led me down a side street. I narrowed my eyes, as he took the lead, and moved back into place at his side. I knew he'd only come to keep me safe, but my competitive nature always had to prove itself.

We ran in comfortable silence. Ranger had longer legs then I did so his strides were longer forcing me to take nearly two steps for every one of his. I also suspected that he was holding back on his speed. I wasn't a sprinter, but I knew my endurance level would probably surprise him and I was proud of myself for being able to keep pace our whole run.

When we got back to my apartment building, it was just after nine and we were both covered in a thin sheen of sweat. I doubled over for a few breaths before I started to pace a bit in order to keep my muscles loose while I caught my breath. Ranger stood still, stoic, I could barely tell he was breathing hard.

"You're fast." I said between breaths.

The corner of his mouth turned up in an almost smile. "Necessity of life." He said. "You're in great shape." He added.

I smirked. "Necessity of life." I shot back at him. See, I could play this game too.

The front doors to the building opened and Hector came out giving us an odd look. He spoke to Ranger and offered me an outstretched hand.

"Hector says he's all set." Ranger translate. "Everything we spoke about yesterday is set up."

I smiled and shook Hectors hand. "Thanks for everything you've done for me."

He nodded and gave me a little smile. "De nada."

I knew enough Spanish to understand that and then Hector passed me a key ring. There were two keys and a black fob.

"The smaller key's for the gym." Ranger explained. "You'll have 24 hour axes, whenever you want it. Its fully monitored, cameras everywhere except for the bathroom. If your ever in there for more than ten minutes one of my guys will call to check on you. There's a phone in the gym. If you don't answer they'll come looking. The other one is for the front door. I have the only other copy, don't make any more." His phone rang and he flipped it open, putting it to his ear. "Yo."

The conversation was short, and then he put the phone in his pocket. "Amber and Brandon are almost done." He told me. "Shower and get dressed, Amber's on her way to get you."

He spoke quickly to Hector, dismissing him, and then walked me up to my door to show me my code pad before they left. The code was,7272012, the date of the opening ceremony of this year's Olympics. I smirked at him once I realized the significant of the number. "Come up with that yourself?" I asked.

The corner of his mouth turned up again, but he didn't answer my question. "Don't tell anyone the code." He said. "Not even Amber or Brandon."

I gave him a little salute. "You got it boss."

"Smart ass."

Once I locked the door behind him, I stripped in the living room and hoped in the shower. Ten minutes later, I was dressed with my duffle bag over my shoulder, hunting for my half shoes. I found them under the couch, just as Amber knocked on the door.

"Good you're ready, let's get to work."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Uncle!"

I let myself fall to the mats and lay their panting. I was out of breath and so covered in sweat I looked like I'd just gotten out of the pool. My already skintight leotard was plastered to my body and what hair had pulled free of my bun was stuck to my neck. My sides burned and even though I couldn't catch my breath it felt amazing.

"I didn't say break!"

Amber was standing over me, holding the ball I'd let bounce away when I dropped. She scowled down at me and I knew I was going to pay for breaking form.

"We need to keep running the end." She said. "You need to be more confident on that last catch."

I nodded. "I know, I know." It was hard to be confident when you were trying to catch a small ball out of the air with your knees. "I'll get it."

"You'd get it faster if you were paying attention. You're not focused, your mind is somewhere else and I need it here."

"I just need a second." I told her, trying in vain to slow my pounding lungs. My arms were sore from boxing yesterday with Lester and I couldn't get Ranger's stupid smug face out of my head. Our run this morning had been fun, and competitive. Maybe I'd be able to get him to run with me every morning. Yeah right, the little voice in my head scoffed, and maybe he'll let you nibble on those diamond studs while he fucks you brainless against a wall.

"No you just need to give me ten laps, instead of these excuses." Amber said sweetly, giving me her demented little smile. "Now!"

"We've been going none stop for four hours Am." I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was almost two. Had we even stopped for lunch?

Amber raised an eyebrow and I flew to my feet. I knew that look it was her 'get over it you big baby before I destroy you!' look. I took off at a quick jog, running laps around my performance mat. The warehouse Ranger had given us to use was perfect. It fit my mat and the workout equipment Brandon had set up. There was even a large bathroom that I had converted into my own personal locker room.

I was on my fifth lap when the front door opened and I watch Lester come into the gym. I picked up my pace and met him as he came in. He grinned as I neared, probably seeing how bad I looked. Maybe I shouldn't have come over.

"Hi." I said with a smile.

"Wow," He said looking me over. "You look like crap."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks."

"You should take a break." He said.

"You better be running Missy!" Amber called from across the mat, where she could clearly see that I wasn't.

I gave Lester and apologetic grin and said. "Sorry, can't. I'm being punished." before taking off to finish my laps. Lester and Brandon were talking off to the side when I finished and reported back to Amber.

She frowned at me. "Steph are you going to be able to handle these next couple of weeks alone?"

"What?" I asked. Of course I could.

"You seem distracted." She said. I followed her gaze over to where Lester and Brandon were standing and she grinned at me. "He is awfully attractive so I can't really blame you."

I found myself nodded, but while Lester certainly was an attractive man, my thoughts had wondered back to Ranger from this morning. The way he'd looked flushed from our run with his pants hanging low on his delicious hips. My hormones raged and I blushed when I realized Amber was still watching me.

"Did I say that out loud?" I asked.

She grinned. "Ranger hu? I thought you were giving the sex eyes to Santos over there, but I have to give you props. Ranger is the one I would have picked too. He's attractive, successful, I bet he's loaded-"

"I don't care about that."

"I know you don't Steph." She said. "But, you need to care about _this_." She added sharply, pointing down to the mat we were standing on. "You need to be focused 100%, and you can't do that if you're thinking about getting hot and sweaty with your body guards."

I blushed.

"Promise me, you'll work hard once Brandon and I are gone." She asked. "Harder then you've ever worked in your whole life. This is crunch time."

I nodded feeling guilty that my hormones were acting up. "I promise Am." I said honestly. "I won't wreak this for you guys. I'll never be able to thank you and Brandon for all the time you've put in me." They'd believed in me when no one else had.

She pulled me into a hug. "Steph you can't win if you're working to please Brandon and me. You need to do this for yourself. Brandon and I are always going to be proud of you. We love you. Do you want this?" It was a question she'd asked me a hundred times, probably a thousand.

"I want this." and as the words left my mouth I knew once again that they were true. I'd wanted this since the day Amber had come to recruit me. I wanted it bad.

"Good," She said letting go of me and moving a step back. "Now take this." She held out my performance ball and waited until I took it. "And run your number again. I'll go start your music. Don't look around, don't break your focus. I'm the only one who maters right now; and I'm going to be watching you like a hawk. So do it perfect."

I nodded and tucked the ball under my arm as I moved back out to the center of the mat. Amber was right, I couldn't remember the last time I'd lost focus in rehearsal and I couldn't afford to do it now. While I waited for Amber to start the music I would be using at Nationals, I took a few deep breaths and let myself fall into my performance zone.

Amber caught my eye once she could tell I was ready and nodded. I raised my arms above my head and pivoted on my toes to face both sides of the mat. In competitions a gymnast usually started by doing this to great the judges. There were no judges here today, but I believed in practicing as if there were. That out of the way I slowly moved into my opening pose.

The ball I used was 18cm. That was on the small side for competition, but I'd always had small hands. Made of rubber, it was easy to grip and this particular ball was solid black. The ball I had for National's was going to be gold. I rolled onto my forearms and picked up the ball with my feet, holding it above my head, waiting for the cue from Amber.

The music started and I was off. Out of all of the Rhythmic Gymnastics apparatuses, the ball was probably my least favorite. I'd always struggled with it and the routine Amber had me doing was advanced. It was also amazing; if I could nail it I was sure to score high. If I blew it, I'd never recover score-wise.

While I moved across the mat, I let my body take over. I'd been doing this same routine for months. I knew the steps by heart. I kept my mind focused on the details Amber wanted me to watch. Fully extended leg on the second up kick. In one move, I had to bounce the ball over my head by hitting it against my knee. If I kicked too hard I wouldn't be able to catch it, if I kicked to shallow it would hit me in the face.

For this routine, Amber had gotten permission to use the song "Falling into You" by Céline Dion. Out of the five numbers I'd be doing it was the slowest and Amber had once told me to imagine that, during the dance, the ball was my lover. It was sort of an odd thought, but it worked for the seductive feel of the song and since I'd just promised Amber I wouldn't try to hop in Ranger's pants it looked like I was stuck with my ball and my new shower massager.

The goal when performing with the ball was to keep the ball moving in a seamless, continuous, smooth movement. The ball should almost never stop moving and the more creative you got with the tosses and the catches the better you scored and above all else; Don't Drop It!

I had two high tosses and caught them both, working to keep the smile off my face while I stayed in character for the song. It was time for the last move and if I messed it up again Amber would never trust me to work by myself the next two weeks. Time to put my money where my mouth was. Here goes nothing.

I tossed the ball as high as I could, letting myself role onto my back. My hands trailed slowly up my body and I momentarily arched my back when they brushed against my bare neck. I kept my legs together, ankles crossed, raising them into the air at the same pace as my hands, letting my thighs rub together just a bit. It was a seductive move and I prayed that I was able to pull it off without looking stupid. As soon as my hands hit the mat above my head and my legs were straight in the air I kicked them open into a split and raised myself up to my elbow's looking up to spot the ball.

I locked onto a pair of smoldering brown eyes watching me from the edge of the performance mat like they were going to burn the place down around us. Holy Shit, when had he gotten here?

"Stephanie!"

Amber's shout broke the spell I'd fallen under just in time for me to spot the ball as it plummeted towards earth, right towards me. Catch it! I snapped my legs back together just in time to pin the ball between my calves and dropped flat to the mat, panting like I'd just run a marathon.

_Yeah, or gone one on one with Batman over there,_ my inner slut taunted. _You could throw him down and ride him Zorro on this very mat_. I squeezed my eyes shut as the music drifted away and I tried to tune her out. Batman? Where the hell had that come from?

_You know if fits_, bad Stephanie said in my ear. _He's dark and mysterious._

Tall and handsome, I agreed.

_Powerful and sexy_, she added.

No! Bad Stephanie, bad hormones, Ranger is off limits. I'd made a promise. Tonight I was going to treat myself to a giant doughnut and then I was going to burn out the motor on my shower massager.

_Your loss,_ bad Stephanie said in parting.

Yeah my loss, I agreed.

When had I become such a slut? Oh yeah, because I hadn't gotten any assisted release in almost a year. When one spent all of her time in a gym where the only man around was twice your age and one of your coaches one tented not to get a ton of sex. It didn't hurt that Ranger was officially the hottest man I'd ever seen in my entire life and I already had a list of fantasies for him to star in. Him and those killer diamond studs.

"Holy Crap!"

Oh yeah, I was still in the gym. People were watching me lay here panting, like a bitch in heat. I pushed myself into a seated position and let the ball roll away from me. I was done with the stupid thing for the day. I looked around to see who had spoken and found Lester watching me with a big stupid grin on his face. "That was amazing!" He said. "I've never seen anything like that. That one move was so cool. You caught the ball behind your back; you didn't even look at it."

I smiled and forced myself to my feet. I stretched my arms out and walked over to the edge of the mat, slowly pacing back and forth to cool down, while I caught my breath. "Thanks Les." I said. "Was that the first time you've seen Rhythmic Gymnastics?"

He nodded. "Yeah, and it was smoking hot. Are all your numbers that steamy? I've been in strip clubs were the dances didn't get that hot. I think I have a new favorite sport."

I chuckled, but it was Amber who answered his question. "Stephanie's ball routine is the slowest one she will be performing. It is also the only one with a seductive edge to it, which isn't very common. We're hoping it will give her an edge since, historically, ball is the round she'll have the most trouble with."

While she answered Lester's questions, I let my eyes wonder. Ranger had moved closer to our group and when he caught me looking at him I was sure I hadn't imagined the almost feral look on his face. His eyes were darker then I'd seen them and I blushed when they swept the length of my body, remembering that I was once again wearing nothing but a tiny leotard.

If he was going to look me over, I sure as hell was going to use the time to look at him. It wasn't fair, he was so dang pretty. His hair looked like chocolate silk and his eyelashes were both thicker and darker than mine were. He was dressed in tight, all black, SWAT clothes with a gun on his hip. A tingle ran straight between my legs. Apparently, I have a thing for men who pack heat.

The corner of his lips turned up. "Good to know, Babe."

I paled, had I said that aloud? Crap crappity crap crap. Way to go you sexually repressed slut! I peeked over my shoulder and nearly passed out with relief. Amber was still adamantly talking with Lester, who seemed very intent on learning everything there was to know about his new favorite sport. She hadn't caught our little exchange.

I glanced back at Ranger and wondered if he'd taken a step forward, or if I had moved without realizing it, because there was no way he'd been that close to me before. I could see the definition of his muscles beneath his painted on shirt and smell the intoxicating scent that always seemed to follow him around. My tongue moved without permission and swept across my lower lip. He was wearing those panty-wetting studs.

"Stephanie,"

I snapped out of my taboo thoughts as Brandon came to my side. "Yes?"

"Hop on the massage table." He said. "I'll rub you down. That was a great run to end on, good job. We'll get some lunch and start up again with your ribbon number."

I nodded and let him lead me off to the side of the room he had set up with his medic supplies. There was a tub to use to ice baths and a professional massage table. Had we been alone I'd have put on some panties and gone top-less. There was no way in hell I was going to take off my leotard with Lester and Ranger in the room so I laid down as is.

I tried to listen to Amber and Ranger as he spoke to her. Something about the contract, he'd written up for her. They'd made some of the changes she'd asked for. After that I couldn't tell you what they did, Brandon put his magic hands on my sore muscles and I turned into a moaning, boneless, puddle of goo. He was so damn good at this!

When he patted my shoulder to let me know he was done, I sat up and found both Lester and Ranger watching me with dark eyes.

"What?" I asked.

Lester grinned; Ranger looked like he was thinking about grinning.

"They've never heard you get a massage before." Brandon said with a chuckle. "Wait until you hear her eat. She moans over every damn bite." He added. He helped me stand and said. "Go shower and change quick, Ranger and Lester are going to take us to lunch."

I showered as quickly as possible and pulled on the clean jeans I'd brought with me. I eyed the T-shirt I'd brought and wished it was prettier. I hadn't known we'd be going out to eat. You mean you hadn't know Ranger was going to be here.

To hell with it. I tugged the T-shirt on and knotted my hair up in a messy bun. I added four coats of mascara to bump up my confidents and strolled out like I owned the place. Fake it till you make it. Wasn't that what they said?

We all loaded up into Ranger's black SUV and he drove us to a casual little sushi bar. I walked into Amber when Lester spoke to the host in fluent Japanese. She chuckled at me and then we were led to the best table in the entire place, a raised table for six off to the side with a full view of the rest of the restaurant floor.

Ranger spoke to our waitress, also in fluent Japanese, and a man in a white chefs coat came out to greet us. Apparently, he knew Ranger and when he learned that I didn't have a lot of experience with Sushi he said he'd send a variety of things to the table for us to sample.

The food was good, except for when Lester tricked me into trying squid. Ick. Ranger talked about the changes in the contract he'd made with Amber.

"I appreciate you doing this Ranger." Amber said reading over the contract in front of her. "I trust you, but I wanted it in writing that those cameras will be secured. It would be disastrous if someone got a hold of the routines Stephanie was doing or leaked that footage online."

"Why?" Lester asked.

"Copyright laws," Brandon said. "Whoever's trying to knock Steph out of the competition might steal one of the dances and give it to one of their younger performers to sabotage her. Two people doing the same dance would be against the rules and both performers would be disqualified."

"Sounds awful cut-throat." He said. "I didn't realize people were this passionate about the sport."

"People have killed over less." Brandon countered.

"What's this part?" Amber said pointing to a section of the contract.

"I am assigning Lester to Miss Plum exclusively while she is under our protection." Ranger explained. He looked over to me. "Anywhere you need to go, anytime of the day or night, Lester will be available to you. Wither it be the mall, the gym, or to your parents house. It would be very dangerous for you to travel alone."

"That's right," Lester, said hooking an arm over the back of my chair. "I'm all yours Beautiful. Day or night, you need me I'm there, just say the word. We're going to have a blast."

I shoved playfully against him, loving how quickly I'd become attached to Lester. "Oh yeah," I challenged. "What if I need you to go tampon shopping with me in the middle of the night?"

He just grinned right back and said. "Then we'll pick up some Tampax, a box of microwave popcorn, some Ben and Jerry's and I'll bring my collection of Terminator movies."

"Awww," That sounded like so much fun. "That was the best answer ever Lester." I told him honestly. "You just became my favorite person."

"Hey!" Amber said dejectedly.

"Right after Amber." I amended quickly, leaning into his side so I could plant a kiss on his cheek.

Lester hooked his arm around my neck and messed up my hair. I swatted at him and he let go with a chuckle. "You don't have any brothers do you Beautiful?"

"Just my perfect older sister."

"Then I am nominating myself as your official awesome older brother and we're going to do the popcorn and Terminator night with or without the Tampax before you leave."

"Santos," Ranger said, his voice questioning.

"All completely professional of course." Lester continued, clearly hearing the warning in Ranger's voice. "Low fat ice cream, no butter, and just one movie so we can make sure you're in bed on time. We can't let anything get in the way of your training." He said with a smile for Amber.

Amber didn't look like she was buying it until Ranger promised he'd change my guard if Lester pulled any stupid stunts.

When we got back to the Gym, Ranger said his goodbyes and I was sad to see him go. Lester stayed to watch the rest of my lesson with Amber and teased me mercilessly when my ribbon got knotted halfway through my dance.

I shot back that it wasn't as easy as it looked and if he wanted to act like a smart ass he could slip on some spandex and join me. I had four other old ribbons with my gear and I told him he could pick one and try the move for himself. He shut up.

My ribbon number was twice the speed of the ball routine and preformed to the orchestral piece "Jupiter" from the Holst Planets symphony collection. My particular copy of the song had been recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. We were going to be competing in London after all. It was fast and powerful with a couple of standout tricks, I'd never seen preformed before. I loved ribbon; it was my second favorite apparatus, right behind my beloved hoop.

Amber ran me though the number so many times I couldn't feel my feet and it was almost ten when Brandon reminded her that they were leaving tonight and should get on the road. Amber finally relented after I'd run the dance through perfectly five times in a row and I cried as they drove away. What if I couldn't do this alone?

"You're not alone, Beautiful." Lester promised, wrapping an arm around my waist. "I'll be here with you every day, kicking your butt. Bobby's going to be helping too," He said. "Brandon walked him through your medical history and what care you'd need help with. Bobby gives a mean massage, but I can promise you I'm better. Although you're on your own for the ice bath, no freaking way. I've done that before, and they suck."

I chuckled and let him led me back into the gym. I put away my things and pulled my jeans on over my leotard. I'd shower when I got home.

Lester drove me back to my apartment and walked me to the door. I let myself in; grateful that my new pass code was something I'd be able to remember easily. Lester did a walk through with his gun drawn and then I walked him to the door.

"See you in the morning Beautiful," He said. "What time do you want to head over to the gym?"

"Seven, But we'll need to do some shopping. I need to get groceries; I don't have much food here right now."

He nodded. "Then I'll see you bright and early, and I'll bring breakfast. What do you like?"

"There isn't much I don't like." I told him honestly. "Surprise me."

He gave me the patented playboy smirk and said, "Sure you can handle my surprises?"

"Oh I can handle you alright." I shot back, closing the door in his face. "Night Les."

I striped and took the shortest shower of my life because I was too tired to stand under the spray. I gave Rex an apple slice and ate the rest myself for diner. I pulled on a pair of boy shorts and crawled into bed.

* * *

~Darkrose

R&R

**Olympic fun fact**- It is true that an American woman has never placed for a medal in Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastics.


	3. Chapter 3

A big hug and thank you to the wonderful encouragement I've been getting in the reviews. I'm going to test out some Lester Pov in this chapter, because I think it's important for us to see some of Ranger's side to this story. We'll see how it goes.

* * *

"Fight for it"

Chapter 3

**Pov- Stephanie**

I awoke slowly, to someone pounding on my front door. I dragged myself out of bed and nearly cried when I saw it was only five am. Someone either had a death wish or balls of steel!

I pulled on a bra to offset my nighttime boy shorts and dragged my feet through the living room, contemplating murder. The person outside knocked again and I heard Lester's voice before I looked through the peephole at him. "Morning Beautiful," He said with a grin, holding out a brown paper bag. "I brought breakfast."

I clawed at the door and stared at him with dead eyes once it swung out of my way. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" I yawned.

Lester was looking bright and cheerful. His clothes were clean, his hair was damp from a morning shower and he had a big grin on his face. "It's time for you to pay up." He said, pressing the bag into my hands as he let himself into my house. "I know what I want for winning the beat we made and you're going to love it."

I groaned and kicked the door shut. "What could you possible want from me at five in the morning?"

"Sunrise yoga."

I raised an eyebrow at him and, for the first time, noticed the pair of yoga mats tucked under his arm. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope," He popped the 'P' "Put on some pants and brush your hair; you can eat in the car and shower afterwards."

I wanted to say no, I wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for at least another two hours. However, I'd lost the bet fair and square so I pulled on some black sweat pants, Rangers tracker bracelet, and grumbled all the way down the stairs.

Lester boosted me up into the giant black truck, waiting for us in the lot. I peeked in the breakfast bag. A single Boston Cream doughnut looked up at me. I wasn't allowed to eat doughnuts. Then I remembered that I'd promised myself a doughnut last night and I'd never gotten it. I never got the one on one time with my shower massager either.

"Something wrong?" Lester asked.

I pulled the doughnut out and looked at it. I loved these things. Should I eat it?

"Did you know that Boston Cream is my very favorite kind of doughnut?" I asked.

He smiled. "Nope, guess I just got lucky." Then he glanced at me again and saw that I was still locked in a staring contest with the tempting pastry. "Are you going to eat it?"

That was a loaded question. If I ate the doughnut, would it be a metaphor that I was too weak to hold with my training without Amber and Brandon watching me? Would I fall to other temptations if I indulged just a little bit? How long had it been since I'd had one of these? Could I eat it before I talked myself out of this?

Then I heard Amber's voice in my head. I couldn't do it. I opened the window and tossed the offending doughnut away before I could change my mind and inhale it.

"Why did you do that?" Lester asked, glancing at the review mirror just in time to see my poor doughnut lose a fight against the semi behind us. "I thought you said you liked Boston Cream?"

"I do," I agreed. "and I almost ate it."

He just looked at me like I was a crazy person, so I elaborated. "It goes against my diet. I'm sorry, I should have told you last night. While I do like most foods, I can't eat junk food like that. I'm very careful about what I eat."

"Shoot, Beautiful." He said. "I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, you didn't know."

"I should have guessed." He continued. "Ranger makes everyone who works for him eat healthy too. Personally, I like to indulge when he's not looking. I should have brought a couple of different options for you to pick from."

"We can get something at the store." I said. "After we do our yoga, and I'm sorry but you're going to have to put up with my family for a little while. I really can't put off going anymore. If my mom finds out I'm in town from anyone other than me I'll never hear the end of it."

He smirked. "Got to be honest with you Beautiful, I'm kind of looking forward to meeting your mom. She sounds like a nutcase."

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. "I'm more interesting in seeing my Dad and my Grandma."

Lester pulled into an empty parking lot next to the park my Mom would take Val and me too when we were little girls. There were jogging paths and a giant lake with ducks. So far it looked like we were all alone. The sky was pink and gray as the sun fought to shine through the Jersey smog and a mist hung over the water.

Lester carried our mats and we set up shop near the lake's edge. We stretched and warmed up on our own, but then I let Lester led as he took an opening warrior stance. We breathed together and moved in slow even counts. I let my mind shut down while we worked, listening to the sound of Lester's deep voice, while he counted, and the gentle sounds of the water.

I was no stranger to yoga; Amber loved it. I loved the burn that settled in your muscles and the jumpstart to my pulse. An hour later, we were both laying in a raised plank formation covered in a thin layer of sweat. A handful of other dedicated people were out, running or walking their dogs. We got a couple of odd looks, but no one came over to interrupt us.

The sky was orange, yellow, and blue with a scattering of gray clouds. I was so wrapped up in the gentle, even counting from Lester that I nearly jumped out of my skin when his cell phone chirped.

"Sorry Beautiful," He apologized as he rolled to his knees and grabbed the phone off the grass, where we'd put it with our shoes. He glanced at the screen. "It's the Boss."

He flipped open the phone. "What's up?"

I stood up and paced a bit, letting my muscles cool down and my breathing even out.

"When?"

The change in Lester's voice caught my attention and I looked up to find him watching me.

"Yeah," He said. "She's right here, she's fine."

His face was hard and his brows furrowed. I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and dropped back to my knees. Oh God, something bad had happened.

"We'll be there in ten minutes." He snapped the phone shut.

"What happened?"

He snatched up our mats and tossed me my shoes. "Put your shoes on."

It was bad; he wasn't even paying attention to me. Had they come back? Had they attacked the gym? Who was hurt and please don't let it be Amber or Brandon.

Lester must have spotted the panicked look on my face. That or I'd spoken my last thoughts out loud. He'd already stepped into his own shoes, but he dropped the mats and wrapped a strong arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his solid chest. "Stephanie, calm down. Their fine, Amber and Brandon got home last night around 0100 safe and sound. RangeMan had them escorted just in case."

"What happened then?" I repeated, as my heart slid back out of my throat.

He grabbed our mats again, but kept and arm around me as he started moving us quickly across the grass. I didn't miss it when he scanned his eyes across the lot looking for trouble or the gun that had magically appeared. My playful, self-appointed brother had turned into a badass bodyguard in less than a second.

"There was a fire at your apartment. RangeMan and TPD are on the scene already, come on." He said, lifting me into the car and shutting my door.

A fire? I felt sort of numb inside. Why the heck would there have been a fire at my place?

"Oh my God Lester, what about Rex?" I panicked. My poor hamster baby was home all alone and defenseless in his cage. He'd be roasted alive. "What about the other people in the building. Was anyone hurt?" It would be all my fault if they had been.

"Don't know Beautiful." He said. "We'll find out more when we get there."

Lester wove expertly though morning traffic. I was rendered speechless when we got near my apartment building. Fire trucks, police cars, and RangeMan SUVs clogged the streets and an ambulance was sitting at the curd with its lights flashing.

"Wait for me to open your door." Lester said, getting out. He came around to get me, keeping me close to his side while we neared the building. I didn't miss that he kept himself between my body and the street acting as a shield. He wasn't carrying his gun, but I knew it was hidden somewhere in his clothes. Probably he was wearing more then one.

Ranger saw us coming and moved so I was sandwiched between the two of them. He led the way over to two large black SUVs that had managed to get parking close to the lot. I saw Ranger and Lester relax a bit once we were surrounded by other men in black. Ranger reached out and lifted me up into the back of one of the cars like I weighed nothing.

"You ok Babe?" He asked, brushing a lock of hair away from my face. "You're looking a little pale."

I glanced up at the blackened window to the apartment I knew was mine. Why on earth would I be pale? "What happened?"

"Fire bomb," He said like this sort of thing happened every day. "We had motion sensors on your windows, but they weren't made of bullet proof glass. The bottle exploded in the living room. We can go see the extent of the damage once we get the all clear from the fire marshal."

I nodded to give myself something to do; looking over the group of elderly people in their bathrobes huddled near the ambulance. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No."

Thank God for small favors.

"What about Rex?" I asked, hating the quiver in my voice. He might only be a hamster to some, but for the last two years, he'd been my friend.

Ranger nodded over my shoulder and I burst into tears when I spotted Rex's glass aquarium safe in the car already. I crawled over and scooped the little bundle of shivering fur into my hands. "Oh Rex, I'm sorry buddy. I'm so glad you're ok."

I put Rex away and glanced back at the men around us, glad to see no one was laughing at my outburst. "Who found him?"

"Fire fighter," Ranger said as I slid back to the edge of the car and pressed against Lester's side. "They found him when they went in to search your apartment for people."

Lester wrapped an arm around my waist. "You're shaking Beautiful."

"Brown!"

At Ranger's shout, Bobby appeared, moving to my side. He pressed his fingers to my wrist and took my pulse. "Adrenalin crash," He said. "What were you guys doing at the park?"

"Yoga."

He pulled a can of Sprite and a fruit bar out of a black med bag and passed them to me ordering that I eat both. I ate what I could and pushed them away, moving back to Lester's side, looking for comfort over anything else. I wasn't hungry.

Thankfully, as my brother, Lester seemed to know exactly what I needed. He zipped me into a black RangeMan windbreaker and pulled me into his lap, keeping his warm arms around my waist while we watched everything play out.

A couple of police officers came over to our group and I tried to tune them out while Ranger stood to speak with them. That was until I heard a familiar voice.

"Cupcake is that you?"

Joseph Morelli. I narrowed my eyes, as he appeared looking just the same as he had the last time I'd seen him, four years ago. Brown hair that hung just an inch to long and brown eyes that I knew turned molten in the bedroom. Joe was two years older than I was, 4 inches taller, and 50% more Italian then my mixed Hungarian/Italian background.

The first time we'd spoken, he'd sweet talked a naive young girl out of her virginity and then written about it all over town, leaving me with the rep of town slut. The next time we'd met, I'd run him over with my grandfathers powder blue Buick. The third and last time I'd really seen him he'd come over to my parents house for dinner, at the request of my mother. Apparently, she'd forgiven him for stealing my innocence. At dinner, he'd chatted politely with my parents. After diner, he'd pinned me to the side of my car and asked if I was ready to settle down with a real man, now that my marriage to the Dick was over. We had a two week rebound relationship, that I never should have let happen. I ended it and left with Amber the same day.

Maybe this time I should run him over with a big black SUV to try and make my point. All that came out of my mouth was, "Hi Joe."

"Holy Crap," He said, looking me over. "Stephanie Plum it really is you. What are you doing back in Trenton? Last time I saw you, you were sticking your middle finger out the window of your car, swearing that you'd never step foot in New Jersey again. You were going to be the biggest thing this town had ever seen."

I shrugged. "Long story." And sooner then he realized I was going to be the biggest story in Trenton.

He tried to step around Ranger, who mirrored his move and kept himself between us. Lester, and all of the guys within range stood up straighter. Joe looked them over and seemed to realize for the first time that I was sitting in a RangeMan car, dressed in a RangeMan jacket, surrounded by big RangeMen men.

"I see you've made some new friends." He said, locking eyes with Ranger. They did some sort of Alpha dog communication thing and then they both moved closer.

I just shrugged again, when he looked to me for an answer. "Part of the long story."

"Miss Plum is currently under the protection of RangeMan security." Ranger said evenly. "Our monitors were in her apartment when the fire started, we responded."

"That's why you guys beat us here." Joe guessed. Then he looked back at me with a little smirk. "Looks like you're still good at causing problems. Don't tell me, the apartment that got trashed was yours right? I don't know how you do it. Your a magnet for disasters, Cupcake."

I felt myself shiver. Trashed? That wasn't a good sign. Oh god, I was going to be stuck in the same bra for two weeks. I hung my head and tried not to cry again. It wasn't my fault. At least it sounded like the damage had been contained to my apartment. Hopefully, no one else would be displaced because of this.

"Do you know if anyone was hurt?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No reported injuries."

"Good." Last thing I needed was someone getting hurt because of me. Bad enough, it was my fault that they were all standing outside, at this ungodly hour, in their sleepwear.

"What happened to the dancing thing?" Joe asked. "I thought you ran off with a professional trainer? How did that go?"

"Gymnastics." I corrected, ignoring the rest of his questions. He knew damned well it was gymnastics too, he'd gone to all of the high school meets just to comment on the way my ass looked in the uniform.

"That's right." He said nodding his head, with a look in his eye like he was remember the same thing I was. "You were always running around town in those skimpy little leotards. You still do that?"

Another officer called Joe's name and waved him away. "I'll see you around, ok Cupcake?" He said, moving away "You're looking really good by the way, we should do diner sometime."

He walked off before he could hear my "Not even when I'm dead and buried." comment, said under my breath with a little grimace.

I got a half-grin from Ranger and full laugh from Lester. "I take it you know that guy?" He asked. "What a piece of work. He's the kind of guy who gives the rest of us a bad reputation. We're not all pigs."

I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately our paths have crossed a couple of times once upon a blue moon. We grew up together, went to school together for a little while. I'm surprised he asked me out, after how well the last date went."

"Wait, wait you actually dated that guy?" Lester asked. "You're way out of his league Beautiful."

I shrugged. "Not really, I was one in a long line of nail-and-bails that all fell prey to the town's local bad boy. I'm proud to say I'm also the only one who got any revenge."

Lester smirked at me. "Now that's a story I've got to hear. What did you do?"

"I ran him over. Broke his leg in three places."

Bobby let out a whistle from where he was listening not too far away. "Nice,"

"Thanks, it was kind of tricky too. I had to jump the curb and everything."

"Sounds more like attempted murder."

I shrugged. "Hell hath no fury." Especially when that fury was coming from me. I was known to hold a grudge.

I sighed when I spotted Joe talking to another officer and then that officer looking over to where I was sitting. He was already talking about me again. I'd officially been spotted, and knowing the rate gossip traveled in the Burg, my Mother would know I was in town within ten minutes. I wondered how long it would take her to call and yell at me.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was another hour before we were able to go inside what used to be my apartment. Once again sandwiched between Ranger and Lester we went up to look over the damage. Most of the living room was gone. The floor seemed sound enough for us to walk on, but the furniture was gone. Ditto the ugly bathroom and all of my make-up. My bedroom door was hanging off its hinge, burned black, but the room itself looked ok.

"Most of these clothes won't be salvageable." Ranger said when he saw me look in the closet. "Smoke damage."

"The kitchen's still intact too." Lester offered.

"Rex was the only thing in the kitchen." I said, once again feeling numb. I'd only just moved in and now it was all gone. Where was I going to live?

"It's going to take your insurance a little while to cover all of this. Do you have anything else to wear?"

I shook my head. "Just the clothes I had in here, I moved all of my gear to the gym though, so that's safe at least." Too bad it would be inappropriate to live in leotards, sports bras, and gym shorts.

"Was this everything you owned?"

I shook my head with a sigh. "No, this was just a temporary set up. I left most of my things back in New York. I have a loft above the gym."

"This apartment is unlivable." Ranger stated the obvious. "The floor will have to be redone before anyone could move in."

"There are other apartment building." Lester offered, "Better one's even."

I hadn't even unpacked here yet. What a pain in the ass.

Lester laughed. "Got to agree with you there Beautiful."

"We have an open room on four." Ranger said. "She can stay there."

Lester gave Ranger a look like he'd just sprouted a second head. Apparently, there was something funny about this suggestion.

"Four?" I asked.

Ranger shot Lester a return look before continuing. I'd noticed all of Ranger's guys seemed to be able to use ESP. I wish I could do that. "Yes, the fourth floor of the RangeMan building is made up of six onsite apartments that allow members of my staff to stay nearby when we need them too."

"I can't take away space from your company." I disagreed, feeling a little uncomfortable about moving in with the RangeMan team. "You're already doing so much for me."

"You'd be making our job easier if you stayed onsite." Ranger countered. "The entire building is already fitted with cameras and state of the art technology. It's safer than any place we'd be able to find nearby."

"Bonus," Lester added, pulling on one of my curls. "You'd be in the room next to mine."

"I can't afford that Ranger." I told him honestly. "As it is I don't know how I'm going to replace my wardrobe. It's going to take me a couple of days to get in touch with my banker and liquidize some stocks."

"You play stocks?" Lester asked.

"Yep," I let my eyes travel back around the burned apartment, glad I kept most of my money tied up instead of spending it on fancy furniture. "I don't make a ton of money doing what I'm doing. Most of my expenses are paid for by Amber and Brandon. After my divorce, I took everything I had and started a portfolio. I'm not rolling in it, but I've managed to tie up a nice little nest-egg. The only problem is I can't get to it right away. I've got maybe five hundred dollars in my bank account."

I'd been saving money for years on the off chance that I'd ever wanted to settle down in a real house. If I had a real house with a yard, I could get Rex a puppy brother. I'd always liked dogs.

"There would be no added charge for the use of the apartment." Ranger said. "You are under our protection. Moving you would still fit under the contract Amber signed with us, because it is a move that directly relates to your wellbeing. You can't stay here and we can't let you go unprotected. Unless you have a friend or family member in the area you would be more comfortable with."

No way! My only true friend in the area, Mary Lou, was currently seven months pregnant with her third bouncing baby boy. I didn't like kids on a good day, I'd never survive living with two and a half of them. Then there were my parents. My Dad would be happy to have me stay with them, but I knew that even one night at my parent's cramped house would be a disaster. After two days, my dad would be ready to kill my grandmother over bathroom rights, and I'd be ready to strangle my mother with my bare hands. Both ideas were out.

My phone started buzzing in my pocket and the weight in my gut told me it was my mom before I'd even looked down at the screen. In truth, it had taken her longer to call then I thought it would. I stuffed the phone in my pocket without answering and nodded to Ranger. "Four it is, thanks."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It took a pathetically short amount of time to move me into the RangeMan building. I had two boxes of things and Rex's cage. Rex went in the kitchen; the boxes went on the floor in the bedroom. How sad.

I called Amber and told her about my morning. She yelled and cursed in at least three different languages and demanded to speak with Ranger so she could hear for herself that I was ok. She knew me well enough to know that I could be lying in a hospital bed and I would still tell her I was fine as long as I was able to breathe unassisted.

While Ranger tried to sooth her, I flopped down on the sofa and groaned. This was so not the best day ever. I heard Ranger say goodbye to Amber and even though I hadn't heard him cross the room I knew he was standing over me. I shivered, feeling his eyes on my back.

"You ok Babe?"

"Someone fire bombed my house." I deadpanned. Not to mention I was still in my sweaty workout clothes. I knew my hair was probably a mess too. My phone buzzed from the coffee table. "and my crazy Mother is still trying to get a hold of me." I added.

"You want to answer that?" He asked.

"I want a nap." I wasn't going anywhere near that phone, not yet. "She just wants to yell at me. I'll deal with her later."

I could hear him grin at me and buried myself farther into the plush cushion. This was such a nice couch. I rolled onto my side and my spine cracked. It was going to take me forever to work all the knots out of my neck once I finally got to the gym.

"Want me to rub you down?"

I froze. My pulse jumped at the image of a shirtless Ranger, straddled over my hips, rubbing my body into a boneless mess. I could almost feel his strong hands on my skin and I prayed that I hadn't moaned out loud. I could see us in my head, his skin tanned next to my pale, and his fingers calloused as they brushed against me in all my softest places. Holy hot flash Batman!

I looked up at him through a curtain of my hair and admired the view. He had to know how beautiful he was. He wasn't wearing the earrings today, but his hair was pulled back just begging me to set it free and run my fingers through the silky locks…or maybe my teeth.

"Might not be a good idea." I said, unless you want me to ride you hard, and put you away wet. On second thought, please come closer. Today had already been a living hell, maybe I disserved a little distraction. I hadn't gotten my doughnut this morning, maybe I could at least get a few good orgasms. I shook my head a bit to break those thoughts. I seriously needed to get a grip.

He grinned, stupid ESP.

I blushed seven shade of red and forced myself to my feet. I wasn't allowed to sleep with Ranger. I brushed against him when I stood and felt tingles where we'd touched. "I'm going to take a shower." I said, moving towards the bathroom without looking back. I needed to get out of this room fast before the curtains caught fire. "Poor Lester's going to have to take me clothes shopping."

I locked the bathroom door and striped, setting the water as hot as I could take it before getting under the spray. Hum? This showerhead had even more settings then the one at my place had.

**Pov- Lester**

I walked into the apartment Ranger had signed out for Beautiful just in time to hear the bathroom door lock shut. My cousin was standing in the living room, looking after her wearing the same look he'd had on his face for the last three days. It was a look I hadn't seen in a while. He had it so bad.

"You scared her away." I teased.

He shot me a look. Yeah, yeah, so he'd probably kick my ass later, oh well.

"So far we haven't been able to find anyone who saw who fire-bombed Beautiful's house. Hal's got a team on the streets, combing the area. If anyone saw anything they'll find them."

"What about our overseas contacts?" He asked. Ranger had put the word out in his network of friends around the world to see if any of them had heard of an attempted on an American athlete.

"None of your friends have called back. They said it might take a few days."

He nodded, he already knew that. While I watched, Range pulled out his phone and made a quick call.

"Ella, Stephanie went to take a shower. Most of her clothes were destroyed the fire along with her toiletries. Can you bring her some stuff to use until she can go shopping? Thanks."

When he hung up, he looked over at me and I knew he was seeing my shit-eating grin.

"What?"

"You like her."

He frowned.

"Don't even try to deny it." I said confidently. "You might be able to hide it with the other guys, but not from me, Cuz. You gave her a room here when we have open safe-houses nearby."

"She needs to be near the gym." He countered. Translation- I wanted her near me.

"What about lunch? You could have let Amber sign those papers at the gym. It only would have taken a few minutes. Admit you wanted to take her out and show off. You even had your chef buddy come table side."

He didn't say anything.

"She likes you too."

This got me another funny look from him. Was he really that blind?

"Don't tell me you serious can't tell." I moved across the room and dropped down onto the couch. "She was giving you those eyes in the conference room on day one. Please tell you me you at least noticed her eyes, have you ever seen eyes that blue?"

He shook his head.

"You know." I said after a little while. "It's been three years since Rachel and you split. You are allowed to move on." She did.

I was worried I might have gone too far when he didn't respond. Few people knew about the short-lived relationship Carlos had held with Rachel and even fewer knew that a child had come out of it. He'd never say it out loud, but I had a feeling that losing legal guardianship of Julie had cut him deeper then he'd thought it would.

"I'm just thinking out loud." I said. "It wouldn't hurt you to put yourself back out there. She's definitely a good looking woman." And as an added bonus, she was one of the only women I could think of who could go toe to toe with him. I bet she was a tiger in bed too. Ranger could probably use a good dose of dominatrix right now.

When Ranger looked back over at me he was wearing his boss face. I wasn't going to get anything else out of him right now. "Miss Plum is our client and she is off limits to any man in this building while she remains so."

"Damn shame." Chicken Shit.

There was a moan from the hallway and I think I stopped breathing. I slid my eyes over to Ranger. He was looking down the hall with dark eyes. He'd heard it too. There was no way she was doing what I thought she was doing. Did she know we were still out here? Ranger had been here when she locked herself in the bathroom. Did she want him to hear?

"Is she?"

The glare he shot my way, shut my mouth, but no look could have stopped us from hearing a second, deeper, moan. I shifted a bit, my cargos suddenly too tight at the image of what she could be doing to draw out moan's like that. I could see her in my head, naked and wet standing under the shower spray. What would it be like to hear her scream?

There was a third shaky moan and then the room fell silent. Holy crap! Ella let herself into the apartment a second later and I know I jumped. I wasn't watching to be able to tell you if she caught Ranger off guard too. I bet not, the guys a freak. I didn't stand to great her as I usually would have. How embarrassing to have your aunt catch you with a hard on because you just listened to a girl get off in the shower.

Ranger greeted her with a smile, the poster child of calm and at ease. Word of advice, never play poker with the dude. He wasn't even walking funny, and there was no way that little show hadn't affected him. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

Ella carried a box of things down the hall and knocked on the door. I heard her call out to Beautiful and introduce herself. The lock on the door popped and Steph let her in. A few minutes later, Ella came back out.

"The clothes I gave her, will work for today. Would you like me to go out and pick up more?"

Ranger shook his head. "No, Lester and I will take her shopping so she can pick her own things."

So he was going to come with us now? How interesting. I was going to have a blast pushing their buttons. How hard would I have to push before he snapped that perfect control? It was obvious he wanted her and judging from the need to find release, I was betting that she was feeling the tension too. This was going to be fun.

* * *

~Darkrose

**Olympic fun fact**- While Rhythmic Gymnastics is currently a women's only sport, there has been an increase in male attention. Japan is currently the front-runner in male Rhythmic Gymnastics and they have petitioned to start professional male competitions all around the world. Although there is no word, currently, of men's rhythmic gymnastics joining the Olympics I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics evolves more martial arts, demonstrating strength and tumbling ability, over grace and dance. Only four types of apparatus are used, unlike women who use five. They are: The double rings, the stick, the rope, and the clubs. Also, instead of performing mat routines on a padded floor, men use a spring board in order to perform more flips and aerial tricks.


	4. Chapter 4

Just a few more weeks until the Olympics! Who's got plans to watch the opening ceremony?

* * *

"Fight for it"

Chapter 4

**Pov- Stephanie**

I glanced in the mirror and grimaced, I looked like mini Ranger Barbie, without the enhanced rack. Ranger's housekeeper Ella had been kind enough to bring me some clothes, but she'd been generous as to my size. The all black shirt was to short, leaving an inch of skin visible above the edge of the all black cargos. She'd brought me a set of black undergarments and I nearly dropped them when I saw the word RangeMan stitched on the back of the panties.

Get a grip and put them on, no one is going to see your panties anyway!

I should just be grateful she hadn't shown up five minutes earlier and walked in on my grand finale. As it was I'd nearly split my own lip trying to keep from screaming. Please God don't let Ranger have heard anything. Bad enough he knew I was attracted to him. I didn't need him to know that I was so hung up for an orgasm that I'd misused his shower.

I walked cautiously into the living room and found both Ranger and Lester talking quietly at the breakfast bar. There was a tray of fruit, bagels, smoked salmon, and an egg white omelet.

"Lester said you hadn't eaten." Ranger said as I sat down next to them.

"This looks amazing." I said, snagging a strawberry and biting into the sweet treat. I'd always loved strawberries. "Thank you."

I ate my way across the tray and tried not to moan over every amazing bite, but the smirks I kept getting from Lester would say I was unsuccessful. Neither of them mentioned hearing anything out of the ordinary so I let the moment pass and prayed it would never come up again.

After a wonderful breakfast, Ranger turned to me and said. "What's your plan for the rest of the day?"

"Shopping first." I said easily. "I need to get clothes that fit right before I go see my parents."

Both of their eyes moved to my waist as I tried to pull the shirt down.

"Don't know Beautiful." Lester said. "I like that shirt on you."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I still need more than one though. After some shopping, I'm going to suffer through exactly ten minutes at my parents house. Then I need to lock my butt in the gym, call Amber, and work myself to death. I should already be there."

Ten minutes later, we were in the RangeMan garage. I called shotgun and was turned down. Apparently, it was safer to sit in the back.

"Shotguns actually a good name for that seat." Lester said. "If you were going to drive with a gunman that's where you'd put them. Likewise, if someone in the car is going to get hit by an opposing bullet, it's probably going to be the passenger."

"You really think someone's going to shot me, while we drive to the mall?" I asked. Wasn't that a little over the top?

"Someone firebombed your house." Ranger reminded me. "I hoped we'd have more time before they found you. We're not going to take any chances with your safety."

Good point. "Fine," I said with just a little huff, pouting at Ranger. "Then you get to sit up front all alone." I climbed into the back seat, making a show of sticking out my hips in the tight pants. I put my seatbelt on and patted the seat next to me. "You coming Les?"

Lester grinned and snagged the keys quickly from Ranger's hand. "Nope, I'm driving. You get to sit by the boss man."

Ranger slid into the seat next to me and gave me a big wolf grin. The drive was terrible. I could literally feel the air between my body and Ranger's heat up. My skin tingled the tension was so tight. I couldn't seem to breathe through my nose right so I was practically panting.

Ranger didn't seem to notice. He sat still and silent, in the zone, eyes forward, breathe even. He was wearing those studs. Lester took a turn a little harder than I thought necessary and our legs touched. I froze, waiting for him to move away. When he didn't move, I stayed. I'm horny, not stupid after all. Amber said I couldn't sleep with him, she didn't say I couldn't touch him.

Lester drove straight to Macy's and I made them help me carry my stuff. Ha Ha Ha. It wasn't every day I got two of the world's hottest guys to follow me around and carry my bags. I was in one of the changing rooms, trying on a spring dress Lester had picked up.

"It's not really my style Les." I said over the door, once the zipper was done. "I don't wear dresses very often. I'm really more of a spandex and cotton type person."

"Come out." He said. "Let me see it. I bet you look great."

I stepped out and found Lester and Ranger waiting for me in the 'husband' seats. Lester spun his finger asking for the 360 so I did a little spin. The dress was light blue, knee length and cinched at the waist with a belt.

"So?" I asked. "What do you think?"

Lester whistled. "Beautiful, that is your dress. You have to get it."

"I can't get it, at least not right now. We were just supposed to be here for the basics. I need jeans and tops and new tennis shoes." And underwear, but I was getting that for myself.

"No way," He said. "You're getting it, I'll even buy it for you. I want to see you in that purple one we looked at too. I'll be right back."

And then he was gone, leaving me all alone with Ranger. I smoothed out the bottom of the dress and glanced in the full-length mirror on the wall.

"What do you think?" I asked, noting that he hadn't spoken yet. "I really shouldn't let Lester buy this for me."

He stood slowly and I watched in the mirror as he came up behind me. He trailed one of his fingers along the strap, over my shoulder, and I felt goose bumps break out on my skin.

"It makes your eyes stand out." He said, catching my gaze in the mirror.

We locked eyes and there wasn't enough air in the store. My skin flamed. He liked the dress, and for some reason it meant more to me that he had liked it. I glanced back at myself in the mirror. It was a good dress, but I didn't think it did anything to my eyes. They were blue, nothing special.

"You're wrong about that Babe." Ranger said evenly, his voice so soft I was sure no one else would hear him. "You have the most beautiful eyes."

I wasn't sure who moved first. I tried to spin around so I could face him, instead of the mirror image. He moved forward, pinning me back against the cold glass. Our faces were only an inch apart when he froze, just a hairs breath from where I wanted him.

His eyes had gone black. I could feel the heat pour off him and into my body through the thin fabric. He didn't move, he was giving me the chance to pull back. I probably should.

"Kiss me."

Where had that come from! I certainly hadn't said anything. My mouth was closed like a good girl. Good Stephanie would never seduce someone and try to get laid in a public dressing room. Who the hell was I trying to fool? Good Stephanie left with Lester. I was in Bad Stephanie mode, and she wanted to kiss Ranger, bad. So I did.

My hands curled into his shirt as I pressed myself as close as I'd go, loving the way I fit against him in all the right spots. His hands tightened around my waist, holding me even closer. As soon as our lips touched, it was over. Doomsday, goodbye, The End. Single handedly the best kiss I'd ever had in my entire life. I'd never survive two weeks, knowing this man was right next to me, without knowing what being with him was like. Sorry Amber.

Our lips molded together like we'd done this a thousand times, and I've got to tell you, the man can kiss. His tongue swept across my bottom lip and I opened for him, desperate to taste him. I nipped his lip and wasn't sure who moaned louder.

His chest was hard under my hands, his hands strong on my hips, and I could tell he was enjoying this too by the length pressed against my stomach. See, I told you I liked men who packed heat, and Batman was sporting some fine weaponry.

After a second, he pulled back, keeping his hands firm on my waist so I couldn't follow. I smirked when I noticed I wasn't the only one breathing a little harder then usual. "This is a bad idea." He said.

"Aren't most good things." I challenged back.

He shook his head and let his forehead press against mine for a moment before he pulled back again. "Playing with fire Babe."

"I think I'm going to get this dress." Burn me, Batman.

He never got the chance to respond. We heard a noise that could only be Lester coming back. Ranger pulled away quickly and sat back in his seat. Lester came in and passed me two more dresses, with a flourish.

"Try these ones on Beautiful and you have to come out and let us see."

The purple dress had a scary plunging neckline that ended at my belly button a clip between my boobs was the only things that kept it closed. Bad Stephanie was still in 'flirt with Batman' mode so she didn't put a bra on before she stepped out to show it to Ranger and Lester.

Lester clapped and hooted. I did a little spin so they could see the counter slit in the back that nearly hit my butt. This dress was slut city and I worked it with every curve I had in my arsenal.

"Where would someone where a dress like this?" I asked, looking at the pair of them through the mirror again. "I look like a street walker."

"A very tasteful street walker." Lester offered.

Ranger didn't say anything and I was afraid to push too hard with Lester here. Although, looking at the next few dresses Lester picked, I was starting to think he was trying to push Ranger's buttons too. The next one was black and so small; my leotards looked modest in comparison.

There was a green T-length dress, a purple cocktail dress, a blood red floor length dress, and two or three light colored sun dresses.

"Les, only one more!" I demanded, passing the last dress out to him. "We're wasting too much time here. I've got things to do."

"Alright, alright, Beautiful. I saved the best for last." He promised, swinging another dress over the door for me.

And that he surely had. The last dress was the most beautiful. Knee length, made of light airy material. It swished then I moved and made my waist look great. Like the first dress, it was blue, but instead of a light sky blue, it was a shade darker then my eyes.

"This is beautiful Lester." I told him trying to work the zipper up my back. It was stuck, damn.

"I knew it would be." He said confidently. "Come out, let us see it."

I held the dress against my chest and stepped out of the changing room. Les was leaning against the mirror, smiling at me.

"You need to zip it for me."

I jumped when a pair of warm hands touched my back. I hadn't seen Ranger move.

"Need to be more aware of your surroundings, Babe." He said, gently pulling the zipper up my back. "Crazy people are trying to kill you."

I shivered under his warm hands and I think I said ok, but I'm not really sure. My brain stopped working the second he touched me. He put his hands on my shoulders and led me forward so we were standing in front of the mirrors and I could see my reflection. I caught his eye through the mirror and smirked a bit.

"That's why I have you here right?" I asked. "To keep me safe from the crazy people."

"What am I?" Les asked, dejectedly. "Chopped liver?"

"Thought you were her brother?" Ranger asked.

Les smirked and looked me over with a devilish grin. "Brother maybe, only if this is Mississippi; because Beautiful I'd tear that dress off you with my teeth and do wicked, wicked things to you."

I blushed.

"Santos!" Ranger nearly growled and I jumped again when his hands fell automatically to my waist. I don't think he even realized that they moved.

Lester shrugged unapologetically. "Just saying," He said. "That's a hot dress. I'm going to head towards the registers."

Once Lester was gone, I felt the tension in the room spike again. Maybe this dress was a bad idea. What on earth was I going to do with a dress anyway? I moved to pull away and Ranger's hands tightened on my waist.

"Get the dress." He said.

I smirked at his reflection, feeling more confident with Lester out of the room. I pressed back against his chest and could feel the start of another erection against my butt.

"You like it?" I asked, fluffing the skirt a bit. "I don't know, I kind of liked the orange one."

The orange dress had been awful with both my skin and hair tones. It was a size to big and we'd all agreed it sucked big time.

Ranger seemed to sense my playful mood. "Feeling wicked?" He asked. He dropped his head and ran his lips along my shoulder until he got to my ear. He nipped at the soft skin behind my ear and I moaned.

He smirked against my skin, "Your eyes darken with desire." He said, huskily and I'll note that mine were not the only eyes getting darker right now. I locked eyes with him in the mirror and his were black. "I wonder if they could match the color of this dress." He mused.

"You want to find out?" I challenged, once again not knowing who was speaking through my mouth. I certainly was not this feisty little vixen teasing Batman.

"Pulling the tigers tail." He warned.

I sighed. "That's too bad; I'm really more of a dog person."

This time he did growl, and I once again found myself pinned between the mirror and his perfectly toned body. Holy crap a woman could get used to this. This kiss was harder, almost feral. We battled for dominance in a clash of mouths and teeth and tongues. I was not going to give up easily and I had a feeling he wasn't used to letting the woman lead. I fisted my hands in his hair, while he hitched one of my legs up around his hip so he could press closer to me.

"Bet I could change your mind." He said while he trailed softer kisses down my neck.

I panted, trying to catch my breath. Desperate to remember that I couldn't throw him down here. We were in freaking public after all. Bad Stephanie!

"Getting a little presumptuous there aren't you Mr. Manoso?" I teased, laying my head back against the mirror to give him more room as his lips continued to tease my neck. "Thought you were supposed to be protecting me?"

I felt him stiffen up a bit, like I'd touched on something he'd been worried about. It would probably be considered unprofessional for him to make moves on me while Amber was paying him to watch over me. I didn't want to hurt his reputation, should anyone catch us together like this. On the other hand, I didn't want to push him away. He was so close to where I wanted him.

I relaxed my hand in his hair and trailed my finger through the silky locked. "Not that I mind. Just so you know."

He pulled back a step and pressed a quick kiss to my lips, before stepping away entirely. "Good to know, but you make a valid point. This is not the most professional behavior on my part. I'm sorry if I've over stepped any boundaries."

"I wasn't exactly stopping you." In fact, I was egging him on like a wanton slut.

"Still probably not a good idea."

"Then why did you do it?" I challenged. "Twice."

His eyes flashed and the heat in my lower belly coiled. "Not sure why, but you drive me crazy Babe." His eyes ran the length of my body, taking in the wrinkled dress and my flushed cheeks. "That color looks great on you."

"Good to know Batman." I was _so_ getting this dress. He smirked a bit at the nickname and I blushed when I realized I'd said it out loud.

Ranger glanced at his watch. "Get changed." He said. "You wanted to stop at a few more places. It's already ten."

I nodded and moved back towards the dressing room. "We can follow up on this conversation later." Somewhere much more private.

"Agreed."

I got some new shoes, and a ton of new toiletries. It had been years since I'd gone to my favorite hair salon and Mr. Alexander was only to excited to hook me up with the newest products he thought would tame my wild hair. He'd always loved the challenge my curls presented when he styled my hair for me. I thought they were just a pain in the ass.

In the end he talked me into sitting down so he could show me how some of them worked. I left an hour later, my hair done up and curled, with a bag of magic hair goodies. Now it was time for the last stop and I was really hopping I could convince Lester and Ranger to go wait for me by the car.

Yeah right.

I stopped outside under the pink and white striped awning and pointed a stiff finger to the bench out front where other husbands and boyfriends had been banished by their women.

"You two can wait out here." I said. "I won't be long."

Lester looked up at the big Victories Secret sign and wagged his eyebrows at me. "Not a chance Beautiful."

"We can't protect you from out here." Ranger said in a no nonsense voice. "We'll stay out of your way, but we need to be near you."

"Besides, I want to know what the big secret is." Lester said, leading the way inside. "Maybe you can show me."

I rolled my eyes, grateful I already knew my sizes so we could avoid the embarrassment of being sized in front of them. Lester was trying to talk me into a matching set of leopard print panties when I watched one of the sales girls approach Ranger like a lion on the savanna. He'd been keeping his distance inside the store, but from the matching black outfits you'd think it would be pretty obvious he was here with us.

She was an inch taller than I was and her boobs had to be fake. No ones boobs are that perfect without artificial help. She neared Ranger and touched his arm to get his attention. My eyes narrowed and I dropped into rhino mode. Now I know I had no reason for it, but the jealous little monster inside of me reared her ugly head and snarled. Thanks to Mr. Alexander my hair looked like a million bucks and I was feeling confident. My boobs might be smaller, but my hair was better.

"Can I help you find anything?" She asked, practically waving her boobs in his face. "Are you shopping for someone particular?"

Hello! I was standing right here! I snatched the leopard print outfit out of Lester's hands and stalked over to them. Ranger opened his mouth to respond and I slipped in-between them, leaning against the counter next to him, and holding the corset/panties set up against my torso.

"What do you think?" I asked him in what I hopped was a sexy voice, pretending like I hadn't noticed the sales girl. I stuck a little pose and took it a step farther by asking. "You like animal print right?"

Lester looked dumbfounded, the sales girl looked pissed off that I'd interrupted her. That's right Honey, take a walk, they're both here with me. Ranger recovered the fastest, running his finger down the corset along the edge of my body. Ok so maybe this was a bad idea. A rush of heat shot to my happy place and I had the sudden urge to pin him against the wall.

He smiled, like he had heard my thoughts. "Yes I do, this will look amazing on you." He flashed his million watt smile at the sales girl and politely said. "Actually I was wondering if you had that number." He pointed to the outfit behind her. "In a 33B?"

She flushed and floundered for a moment, looking first at Lester and then back at Ranger and I, before offering to go look in back. Obviously she was confused about who I was here with. I followed Ranger's finger to the outfit he'd liked. It was the same shade of blue as the dress I'd gotten. The corset was tied with black silk and the matching panties had a little attached skirt.

"Pretty," I said moving forward to touch the fine silk.

"Not pretty, Bombshell." Lester said. "On you that outfit would be; Bow chica bow wow."

I elbowed him in the ribs and blushed. "Stop that." Then I noticed several of the same outfit in my size on the rack.

"My size is already here." I pointed out, snatching one.

"I know." Ranger said innocently. "I had to say something to make her go away. Buy it."

"Nice interference by the way." Lester said, "Only I think that she thinks you're here with both of us."

"I _am_ here with both of you." I said, letting just as much innuendo drip in my voice as he had.

Lester laughed. "Not that I'd object to getting freaking with you Beautiful, but I'm not really into incest. I know a couple of other great guys if you're looking for a threesome. We don't need to invite Ranger along."

Ranger growled.

"Wait, you guys are related?" I looked them both over noticing for the first time the similarities in their completion and cheekbones. Ranger was an inch taller, but Lester had wider shoulders.

Lester nodded. "Where'd you think we got these great looks from? Our Grandpa was smoken hot back in his day."

"We're first cousins." Ranger elaborated. "Our mother's are sisters."

"You meet Ella this morning." Lester continued. "She's our aunt too. Our moms are the youngest of five girls."

I bought my load of lacy frills, including both the leopard and blue sets of panties. I stopped in one of the mall's bathrooms to change fast, afraid of what my mother would say if I showed up looking like she-bounty-hunter in the black gear. She was already going to freak out when she saw Ranger and Lester.

Ranger and Lester carried everything except my Vic's bags and we loaded into the SUV. This time Lester sat in the back with me while I gave Ranger directions to my parent's house.

"Is it safe for me to visit them?" I asked. I might not have the best relationship with my parents, but I didn't want someone to firebomb their house because I'd stopped by to say hi.

"We already have a team watching over your folks." Lester said. "Just in case, you know. Chances are good whoever is following you already knows about them, so there is no added danger in going to see them in person."

We pulled up in front of the house I'd grown up in to see my mom and grandma already standing on the front porch. They were both short, stout, Hungarian women, standing on the front porch watching the road expectantly.

"Did you tell them we were coming?" Lester asked, looking at me.

I shook my head. "Burg homing instinct," I explained. "Mother's around here can feel a change in the air when offspring near the nest."

"Freaky." He said.

"Tell me about it."

"Wait for me to open your door." Ranger said, before getting out of the car first.

I did as I was told, enjoying the confusion on my mother's face when she saw first Ranger and then Lester both dressed to kill with their gun belts on. The windows were tinted enough in the car that even thought she knew I was here she couldn't have seen me yet.

Ranger opened my door for me. I stood on the grass for a second, just looking at them. Now or never Plum, don't be a coward. I moved forward, Ranger and Lester shadowing me the whole way. Their eyes peeled for any crazy fire bombers. I got to the porch and was pulled quickly into a hug by my grandmother.

"Baby granddaughter, look at you." She said holding on for all she was worth. "You look like a million bucks, and who are your hot friends?" She peeked over my shoulder and gave Lester a wink. "This ones got a nice package."

Now there's the grandma I knew and loved. I probably should have warned Lester and Ranger about her and her sexual exploits. My grandma had been known on more than one occasion to sneak out of the house and go to strip clubs with her bingo group. I shrugged, naw, it will be more fun this way and she was right, Lester did appear to have a nice package. I was just more interested in seeing Rangers.

I looked her over and felt a wave of regret and shame. My grandmother had not aged well since the passing of my grandfather, gravity had been hard on her skin and her iron tight curls were steel gray. She looked so much older then I remembered, forcing home the truth that she wouldn't always be here and I was missing too much of her life.

I held on as tight as I could. "Thanks Gram, you look good too. It's so good to see you."

I stepped back and looked at my mom. She looked just like I remembered, down to the disapproving look and the apron. "Why don't we take this inside?" She said glancing around to make sure no one was looking at us. "Your guests can come back and get you later."

Ranger opened his mouth to speak, but I put my hand on his arm to stop him. I hope he didn't mind me cutting him off. My mom was kind of hard to deal with if you'd never experienced her for yourself.

"Mom, they're not my guests. These guys are my bodyguards. They need to stay with me for my own protection. If you don't want them here, we can leave, but I'm going with them."

"Bodyguards?" She said, looking stunned. "Why do you need bodyguards?"

"Can we come in?" I asked. "I'll explain everything in a second. Is Daddy home?"

She nodded her head curtly once. "Of course he is. He's in the den." She glanced again at Lester and Ranger and then moved aside. "Very well, but come in quickly, what will everyone say? What kind of person needs bodyguards following her around?" She caught sight of Ranger's belt. "Is that a gun?"

"That's a nice one." Grandma said, looking it over. "I should get me one like that. Mine's to long, I have to carry a giant purse to keep people from seeing it."

My mother crossed herself.

"Gran, you were supposed to get rid of Grandpa's old gun." I said.

"I'm old." She shot back. "I've got rights."

I moved past them all putting a finger to the side of my face to stop my eye from twitching. This was going to be the longest ten minutes of my life.

Lester and Ranger followed me inside and I smirked a little to myself when grandma grabbed Lester's crotch. He jumped, looked shocked, and then moved away from her. He probably hadn't expected my seventy year old grandma to feel him up. One down one to go. Watch out Ranger!

My father stood up when I walked into the den, mouth open, and eyes wide. "Pumpkin?" He said, crossing the room to pull me into a hug. Clearly I was the last person he'd thought would walk into the den. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were in town."

I held on as tight as I could and pulled him down to sit with me on the couch once I had to let go. Lester and Ranger had both taken up spots on either side of the room against the wall, as out of the way as they could get. "It was sort of a spur of the moment thing Daddy or I would have called you."

"I've been calling your cell phone all morning." My mother cut in, "Aggie Morelli called me; she said her little Joseph ran into you this morning and that your apartment had been blown up. When did you get an apartment in Trenton?"

"Who are these men?" My Dad added, seeming to notice Ranger and Lester for the first time.

"Daddy this is Ranger Manoso, and Lester Santos." I said, pointing out each in turn. "Ranger owns RangeMan security over on Haywood. Have you heard of that?"

He shook his head. "No I'm afraid I haven't. A security company? What does that mean? Why are there here? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

I glanced at Ranger. "You want to take this one?" I asked, since I really wasn't sure what was safe to tell my parents. He nodded and offered a hand to my father.

"Mr. Plum," He greeted. "RangeMan is a fairly young company; we've only been in operation for a few months now. Stephanie is the first A-list client we've represented."

"A-list?" My mother said. "She's not a movie star."

"A champion, Olympic grade athlete is about as A-list as you can get outside of Hollywood." Lester said with a smile for me. "Especially with the Olympics coming up again. The whole world watches those games."

"You were robbed of that medal." My grandmother said with a frown, like she always did when the Olympic came up in conversation.

"I lost fair and square Grandma. I'll get it next time."

My mother rolled her eyes. "Not with that nonsense again."

"Hush Helen." My grandmother said coming over to me. "Are you gunna compete again baby girl?" She sat down on my other side.

I nodded. "I've got National's in a couple of weeks and judging off my scores there I may or may not make the American team for the London games."

"So it's not official yet." My mother asked hopefully. "You don't have to go."

"I've got the highest scores in the country right now; I'm basically a sure in." Take that, I'm going just to piss you off, medal be damned! I could feel a headache coming on. I glanced at the clock on the wall it had already been twenty minutes.

"I want to see you on TV again before I die." My grandmother declared. "You can win that big shiny medal and bring it home so I have something to tell all the girls about down at the salon. You're so pretty when you're doing your thing Baby granddaughter. I know you'll win it this time."

Aww how freaking sweet was that? I felt my eyes water and bit my lip to keep from crying. Talk about pressure, now if I lost I'd feel like I was letting my grandmother down. Thankfully, my father chimed in again before I had to come up with a response.

"That doesn't explain why you're here." He said looking back up at Ranger.

Ranger nodded and took the lead on our conversation again. "Stephanie has recently received some threats, from people demanding that she not compete in Nationals. My company and I have been brought in, by her trainers, to make sure that nothing happens to her while she prepares for the Olympics."

"Threats?" My dad looked horror struck. "Like what? Is that why someone set her apartment on fire?"

Ranger nodded. "We have no proof yet, that the two incidents are related, but we believe it is the same people. Stephanie was moved to Trenton a couple of days ago in secret to try and throw them off the her trail. They don't want Stephanie in London, they know she'll win. My men are doing everything they can to learn who is behind the attack."

I was just glad he didn't mention the shooting.

"Are you ok?" My father asked looking down at me.

See, this is why I loved him. My mother worried about what the people across the street would think if they saw Lester and Ranger out on the front step. My Dad just wanted to know if I was ok. My Dad freaking rocks.

I nodded. "I'm fine Daddy. Ranger and his guys have been with me twenty-four seven, keeping an eye on me. They won't let anything bad happen."

"Twenty-four seven?" My mother asked, sounding horrified. "They live with you! That's terribly inappropriate. Stephanie, this is ridicules haven't you been playing at this long enough? Mary Anne Shaver's daughter doesn't have people set her house on fire or let strange men sleep with her."

"I'm not sleeping with them." I shot back and I could feel the last of my patients slip away. I needed to leave now. "I just meant that they're protecting me. The safe house I'm in has RangeMan camera's," No need to tell her I was staying at the RangeMan building. "And Lester goes to the gym with me. Which reminds me, I should be there now. I've got work to do, since I'm not playing around with this, it's my job. I'm a professional, Mom."

I let the door slam behind me and had stalked halfway across the yard before I remembered that I'd forgotten Lester and Ranger inside. Thankfully, they were thinking straight and had followed me out. Lester passed me my coat when I stopped to look for them.

"Thanks."

"No problem, Beautiful." He said opening my door for me and boosting me inside the mammoth SUV again. "Your Mama is nuts, by the way. I thought you were exaggerating."

"I wish." Eye-twitch.

Ranger slid behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb. "Gym?" He asked.

I nodded. "Please and thank you." Now! I needed to run. I needed to work until I was too tired to think about anything other than breathing. I wanted to hit something.

"Your Grandma wants you to call her later." Lester said. "And your Father would like to take you out to dinner at some point too. He said it was ok if Ranger or I went with you."

I nodded along because I'd been to desperate to get out of the house to hear either of those invites. "I'd love to hang out with my Dad some more." I agreed.

Ranger dropped Lester and I off at the gym. He had some meetings to attend and said he'd see us later. "I'll have your bags brought up to your room too." He said. "What would you like for dinner?"

I shrugged. "Anything you eat will work just fine." I said with a grin at Lester. "I hear we have similar diets." Twigs and berries, breakfast of champions and rabbits.

He grinned. "I'll surprise you then."

Ranger rolled away and Lester hooked an arm around my shoulders. He led me inside the old warehouse, flipping on lights. He gave me a nudge towards the little bathroom/locker room. "You change first, I'll only take a second."

"You're going to change too?"

He smiled and nodded towards a set of black duffle bags along the wall. "I'm your coach for the next two week. I can't work out with you in cargos."

What had I gotten myself into? I changed into a black leotard and my toe shoes. Then feeling self-conscious, I added leggings to cover some more of the exposed skin. I knotted my perfectly done hair high and went to find Lester.

Looking around the warehouse, I noticed more changes had been made since the last time I'd been here. There were more work out machines and a rack of gear, including boxing gloves. How perfect was that? Lester changed into a black tank top and matching black basketball shorts. When he stepped out of the bathroom, I tossed him a pair of blue boxing pads.

"Feeling mean?" He asked.

I had already strapped into a pair of red mitts. I smirked, backing towards the mat, shadow boxing at him. "I want to hit something."

He tightened the gloves and met me on the mat. "Bring it on Beautiful."

* * *

~Darkrose

Olympic Fun fact- How did the Leotard get its start?

The leotard is the gymnastics uniform of choice. Leotards are comfortable, form-fitting outfits. They give gymnasts and dancers freedom of movement. The leotard is named after the French acrobat, Jules _Leotard_ (1842-1870). He performed the first flying trapeze act on Nov 12, 1859 while wearing a body-hugging costume to show off his athletic physique. The name stuck.

What other questions/facts would you like me to talk about?


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the little delay in this. What can I say work sucks balls. Then I decided that I hated this chapter and scraped the whole thing. Trust me, this versions a million times better.

Any coaches/athletes mentioned in my story are all made up, they don't exist and are not biased off any real life people from this country or any other.

"Fight for it"

* * *

Chapter 5

**Pov- Stephanie**

"Keep running," Lester said, as I slowed down to look up at the door. Ranger had just come into the gym, who wouldn't look?

For the last two day's I'd sequestered myself inside my makeshift gym. My days had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. Lester and I would meet for sunrise yoga every morning at the park. We'd eat breakfast, usually in the RangeMan break room, with the other guys. Let me tell you, there had to be an unspoken rule about good looks. Every single one of Ranger's men were absolutely beautiful.

I'd become particularly close with a handful of the guys and looked forward to seeing them every morning. Cal with his flaming skull tattoo had a secret weakness for blueberry muffins. Hal was definitely the quietist one in the group but, I'd gotten him to open up a couple of times and tell me stories from his old Navy days. He used to be a Navy Seal! He'd retired early, when an inner ear infection made it impossible for him to dive anymore.

Tank and Bobby, both of whom I'd meet before, were part of Ranger's core team and were also part of his Ranger team in the Army. Although I still hadn't gotten Ranger to tell me any stories himself, Tank had mentioned that he and Ranger grew up together, then joined the Army. Bobby met Ranger, for the first time, when their two units bumped into each other overseas. They joined forces for a shoot out and Bobby ended up having to pull two slugs out of Ranger's leg.

Woody was from Texas and loved to talk about horses. I loved his southern ascent and after begging one morning, he'd finally worn his cowboy hat in to work so I could see it. Very few things in this world are hotter than cowboys. There was Binky, Zero, Caesar, Vince, Manny, Ram, and Zip. Each one different. Each one, scary as all get out. Each one, drop dead beautiful.

But, next to Lester and Ranger, who'd I'd been spending most of my time with, I'd become very fond of one of Ranger's youngest and newest employs. His name was Hector. He was a year younger then I was and of unknown Hispanic dissent. I'd spoken to him a few times, but never really learned anything. Hector only spoke Spanish, and while I could manage my way around Italian, I had no idea what he was saying half of the time. It all worked out though, because I'm pretty sure he had no idea what I was saying either.

I'd bumped into him, my first morning at RangeMan. He'd been kind enough to show me where Ranger's office was so I didn't get lost. Every day since, I made sure to stop by his desk, off in the corner, just to say hello. Lester had told me that most of the other guys were sort of afraid of Hector, and in all fairness I could see why. Covered in old knife scars and tattoos, Hector came off as very intimidating, but the things that stood out the most was the singe tear drop under his left eye. I'd never been involved in a gang personally, but everyone knows that a tear drop tat stands for a gang kill.

"Stephanie!"

I snapped myself out of my thoughts and glanced back at Lester. He waved me over. I jogged over to stand near them and gave Ranger a cheeky little salute. "Morning Boss."

"Smart ass."

I grinned and stuck my tongue out at him. His eyes narrowed just a bit and I felt heat pool into my gut. Holy Hot flash Batman! Ranger and I had been flirting pretty heavily the last few days but he hadn't made any move to push us farther. Part of me was glad, I really did need to focus right now. Another small part was sort of hurt, why didn't he want me anymore? I certainly wanted to kiss him again.

"Show her the photo's," Lester said. "Were burning daylight here."

Ranger held out a folder and pulled out a small collection of glossy prints. He passed them to me. "Do you know any of these people?"

I glanced through the shot's and was surprised at how many I did know. Why was he looking into these people?

"I know most of them."

The first shot was of an older Russian man with receding brown hair and steely gray eyes. "This is, Nikifor Mikhailov. He's a trainer, people call him Niko. His girl, Fedya, took silver in China four years ago. I competed against her."

The next shot was of a short, thickset, older woman with gray blond hair pulled back into a tight bun. "This is his Co-Trainer, Serafima Yakovlev. She tore her knee at her first games when she was nineteen and it never healed right, she was forced to drop out of competition and became a trainer too."

I passed him the next shot of a man, probably in his mid thirties, with black hair and dark eyes. "I don't know this one." Ranger took the photo, and gave me a nod before tucking it away. Guess he wasn't going to tell me who it was.

The last two photo's were a pair of people I knew well, but had never actually met before. "This is Daria and Aleksey Bialenka. Why are they in here? Who are all of these people?"

"How do you know them?" Ranger asked, without answering my questions. "What can you tell us about them?"

I could tell he wasn't going to answer any of my questions until I told him what I knew so I shrugged and passed him the pictures. "They're brother and sister. They took Amber and Brandon in when they were kids. Trained them in Gymnastics. They practically raised them. Am and Brandon lost their parents when they were really young."

"They were Amber and Brandon's coaches?" He asked for clarification.

I nodded, "Yes, back in Belarus. That's were Amber and Brandon are from."

"They're not American citizens?" Lester asked.

I shook my head. "They are now, they just weren't born here. They came here after the 2000 games to open their own gym. They'd both just come off medal wins so it was a good move. They have a lot of credit in the Gymnastics world."

"They're gold medal winners from another country." Lester clarified. "And now they're training the first American athlete with a chance to challenge their home country."

I felt my jaw drop and glanced back at the two photos in my hands. They couldn't really think Amber's coaches would come after me, did they? "You can't be serious?" I asked. "It can't be them, they think of Amber and Brandon like their own kids. Amber and Brandon take a trip every year to go see them. They love them."

"So they would know a lot about you?" Ranger stated the obvious. "Where you live and how good you are? They would know probably better than anyone, outside of your gym, how good you really are."

"Anyone who's ever seen me perform knows how good I am."

Lester put a hand on my shoulder. "Were not accusing them, it's just a possibility."

"Do you have any proof?" I demanded. "You better not let Amber know you're looking into them without solid proof, she'll kick your ass."

"We are looking into a few different people." Ranger said tucking the photo's away. "Have any of these people ever threatened you in the past?"

I shook my head. "No, I've never even spoken to most of them. I just know them in passing, I saw all of them in China. I spoke a couple of words to Niko at the medal ceremony, congrats and stuff like that. He seemed ok."

Ranger tucked the photos away after our conversation and asked how my training was going.

"Lester's good at motivation." I told him honestly. "But, it's a good thing I already know what I'm doing or I'd be screwed."

Lester pouted at me. "I'm doing my best Beautiful; I have no idea what she's talking about half the time."

I pecked him on the cheek, enjoying the flash in Ranger's eyes, and said. "I know Les, I really appreciate everything your doing for me." I glanced back at Ranger. "You want to see the move I've been working on?" I asked, smirking when he caught my eye.

His eyes flashed again and Lester chuckled. "I think he wants to see a different set of moves, Beautiful."

I grinned and Ranger shot Lester a look before straitening up and stepping back. "Another time perhaps, Tank and I have a client meeting."

Then he left and I found myself watching his backside as he strolled away. The man had to have the best ass in all of Trenton. You're just going to have to trust me on this one ladies. He's got buns to sink your teeth into.

Once the door closed behind Ranger, Lester started laughing. "Man Beautiful, I've never seen him this tense. You've got to tell me what your secret is. How do you get under his skin so easily?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" I said innocently.

He snorted. "Yeah right, I just wish you two would do it already and get it over with. The sexual tension between you two could cut glass."

I blushed and Lester messed up my hair. "Hey now, don't get embarrassed. Your both adults, sex is sex. Besides," He gave me a little wolf smile. "I'm your big brother, you can confide in me on anything."

I rolled my eyes. "Say's the man who invited me to a threesome."

"Offer still stands." His smile fell and he looked at me seriously. "But, for real. I can tell you like him, and though he might not show it, I think you've caught his eye as well. My cousin's a good man and he could sourly use a few dashes of a good woman in his life."

"Why's that?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

Lester opened his mouth like he was going to speak, closed it, and then shook his head slightly.

"You can't tell me?" I guessed.

He nodded. "It's not my place too. That's something Ranger's going to have to share with you himself, if and when the time ever comes."

I nodded, understanding. "He's been hurt before."

"Haven't we all." Lester agreed. Then he clapped his hands together to get my attention and tossed me my hoop. "Let's get back to work."

It was five in the afternoon when Lester called a halt to our workout.

"Good work today, Beautiful." He said, slinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. "I just know you're going to blow the competition away. We're going all the way to London."

"I hope so." I agreed.

"Go get changed, we'll call it a day a little early and eat dinner with the guys. They love it when you're in the break room."

I chuckled. "You guys sure are hard up. Ranger needs to hire more women."

"Not a chance," Lester said with his signature wicked smile. "The guys get distracted enough when your around. Besides there's not many women in the area with the skill set needed at RangeMan."

"I bet I could do it." I said, feeling confident. "I'd need some training obviously."

Lester nodded. "You know what Beautiful, I bet you could. You've already got the strength and stamina going for you. Although, you'd have to learn how to shoot a gun."

I wrinkled my nose. "I'm not very comfortable with the idea of carrying a gun."

"You get used to it."

That's the part that scares me.

I changed and let Lester escort me into the black SUV we'd been using all week. A short drive later and we pulled down into the RangeMan garage. I left Lester at the door to the fourth floor and entered my temporary apartment to shower fast. I pulled on fresh panties and then, just to be a smart ass, black yoga pants paired with a black tank-top. Really, the guys in this building needed to wear more color. I wonder if they all wore black boxers too?

I'd just walked into the break room, smiling when the guys there all waved to me, when someone behind me called my name. It was Ranger.

"Going to join us for diner?" I asked, leaning against the doorway trying to look casual in front of everyone. Lester might have noticed my sadly desperate crush on Ranger, but that didn't mean I wanted every man here to know that I dreamed of ridding their boss like Zoro.

He smiled as he stopped in front of me and my heart rate jumped. He was just a smidge to close. I could feel the heart coming off him and smell his shower gel. I'd never seen him smile like that before either. He was so handsome.

"Actually," He said tossing an apologetic smile over my shoulder. "I was wondering if I might steal you away from these clowns for a night. Would you care to join me for diner upstairs?"

I knew I was blushing and feared that if I opened my mouth I'd just drool like a moron. I nodded yes and waved goodbye over my shoulder at the guys as Ranger took my free hand and pulled me out of the break room.

We stood still and silent in the elevator, for once the tension making me uncomfortable. Why now, all of a sudden and out of nowhere, would he ask me to eat with him upstairs? My pulse pounded in my ears and I hoped he couldn't hear it.

_Make the first move!_ My inner little slut cheered. _Pin him to the wall and make him sing! _

Thankful I had just enough control to remember that, that plan was a bad idea. Don't do anything stupid! There were cameras in the elevator and all over the building. I really didn't need the guys working monitors to see me make a fool of myself. The door slid open on seven and Ranger fobbed us into the master suit on the top floor.

He opened the door for me and let me go in ahead and I got the feeling that he didn't bring a lot of ladies up here. I moved slowly into the front room taking in the tastefully masculine décor. The room was a wash of greens, browns, hard wood, and stainless steel. The furniture was lush and lavish dark leathers. There were fresh flowers in the entryway, but other than those I didn't see any personal touches. There were no pictures, and no kick-knacks to clutter space.

"This is beautiful." I said honestly turning around to find Ranger watching me from the kitchen. He'd left his gun and phone on the counter and was watching me take in his space.

His eyes turned predatory and I was having second thoughts. I'd let an Alpha corner me in his personal space on his own territory. I let my eyes trail down his form, remembering the feel of him pressed against me. Heat flashed through my skin and I wasn't sure who moved first.

We met hard in a tangle of limbs as we both moved to grab the other. Our mouths fused together, like this wasn't only the third time we'd ever kissed. My hands locked in his soft hair, while his moved to my hips, lifting me easily and placing me on the counter. He kept his hands on my waist, fitting himself between my legs, pulling me forward so we were pressed together at the groin.

I'm not sure how long we stood there, sneaking quick breaths while our tongues dueled. He rocked his hips and I moaned into his mouth. I would have been embarrassed, except for the soft growl I got from him in response, proving that I wasn't the only one affected.

There was a knock at the front door and we jumped like teenagers getting caught by their parents. Ranger pulled away and moved behind the counter to hide the obvious erection pushing against his cargos. It took me a second to gather my thoughts. When I did, I slid off the counter and onto one of the bar stools, running my fingers through my hair to try and calm the wild curls.

Ella came in with a tray, saying hello. She gave me a little smiled, while she unloaded a few wonderful smelling dishes and I wondered wither she was happy I was eating with Ranger or if she'd guessed at what we'd been doing. Then I remembered that she was Ranger's aunt and had to bite my lip to keep from groaning. She was going to think I was such a slut.

Ranger walked Ella to the door and said goodbye. My curiosity got the better of me and I started to peek under the covered pots, wondering what the mighty Ranger would eat for dinner. The first dish was a thick soup with chicken and rice in it. There was a dish of seamed veggies and a basket of what had to be handmade rolls. Yummy.

I jumped when Ranger wrapped an arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my neck. "Are you actually hungry?" He asked.

I spun around in his hold, his dark eyes proving exactly what he wanted for dinner.

"Have you been avoiding me, the last few days?"

I didn't know where the question came from. I didn't know why I asked it. But, there it was, out of my mouth, wreaking the moment right before I was about to get the Ranger induced orgasm that had been plaguing my dreams since I'd first laid eyes on him.

"Yes,"

Say what? He hadn't even flinched at my question and I was surprised that he'd answered it at all. His eyes held mine, he wasn't lying.

"Why?" I asked, had I done something wrong?

"No you didn't do anything," He said. "You're just very dangerous Babe."

I let the corner of my mouth tilt up. "Does danger scare you?"

"Very little scares me." He admitted. "I'm not afraid of you. I'll admit however that you are tempting me to break a number of rules that I've never broken before."

"You don't look like the kind of guy who follows all of the rules."

This time, he smiled. "My rules may not follow the book, but I never break them."

I hook one of my fingers through a loop on his pants and pulled his hips against mine again. "And this breaks one of your rules?" I asked, pressing against the impressive bulge in his pants.

"A couple actually."

"Like what?" I asked, curious as to what sort of ethic's Batman lived by.

"Batman?" He asked. "That's the second time you've called me that."

"It fits," I shot back. "Don't make fun of my nick-name."

"Superman's a better super hero."

I grinned at that. "Growing up I always told people I was going to be Wonder Woman."

"I can see you doing that."

"Broke my arm, jumping off the garage, trying to fly."

This time he laughed. "You never disappoint Babe."

"I love it when you call me that." I told him, honestly.

He kissed me. This kiss was lighter then the last one had been. Instead of desperate need, I sensed a true desire for me behind it. It was the best kiss I'd ever had and I made the first move to deepen it. He let me explore the panels of his mouth and press myself against him. His strong arms holding me tighter. However when my hands moved to the edge of his shirt, he pulled back. Looking down at me with dark eyes, through thick, beautiful lashes.

"I'm not really relationship material." He said.

I moved back a step to look up at him. "Is that really what you're worried about?"

"You don't look like the kind of girl to have casual sex, with strangers." He said looking me over. "I get the feeling that the Burg is a pretty conservative place."

"I ran away from the Burg a long time ago." I reminded him. "I never fit in there to begin with and I'm not ever going back."

"You're comfortable with a one night stand?" He asked, not looking like he believed me.

And there was the honest truth about what we could be. Was I looking for something more? Was I ready for something more? Did I only want Ranger once?

"No," I said, holding on when he moved to step back. "I'm not ok with only having you once." I continued. "Because I get the feeling that I'm going to want you at least three or four times."

He smirked at my sarcasm, but let me continue.

"I have no delusions about what we are Ranger." I told him. "Or what we could be any time soon. Lester told me, you were still active duty. I'm guessing Army Rangers?"

He nodded.

"And your the owner of a young company." I pressed. "Very impressive, I can see where you wouldn't have the time to devote to a relationship."

"And your ok with that?"

I nodded. "Yes, as long as you're always honest with me. I don't exactly have the time to devote to you either."

He raised an eyebrow at me and I felt my eyes narrow. "You think you're the only one with ambitions?" I asked, working to keep my attitude in check. "I'm three weeks away from possible becoming America's first rhythmic gymnast to ever place at the World Olympics. My training schedule is insane. After I make it through the Olympic trials, there's going to be interviews, commercials, promotions. I'll be meeting with sponsor's, and news's casters. Then there's London the beast itself. Two weeks of none stop work, fighting against the rest of the world for what I truly want more than anything else in the world right now. I've worked too hard, and for too long to mess up this chance."

"I'd never ask you to sacrifice your training time."

I nodded. "I know that. I trust you." I told him. "A lot more then I thought I would after only a few day's. It's a lot more then I can say about anyone I've been with since my disaster of a divorce, those nights were mistakes."

"You were married?"

He sounded surprised. "Lester didn't tell you? I mentioned it to him."

"Santos wouldn't have shared personal information like that unless it was relevant to our case."

"He's a good guy." I was starting to actually wish Ella would adopt me. Then I'd get her amazing food all the time and Lester could actually be my cousin.

"You'd be my cousin to then, Babe." Ranger said. "That might be odd." Ok so maybe it wasn't a great idea.

"We could be kissing cousins." I teased.

He chuckled and then my stomach roared like the hounds of hell. Damn it.

"Let's feed the beast, Babe. Ella's soup is one of my favorites."

"Will there be kissing later?" I asked, reluctant to let go, now that I was this closed to having him naked and sweating.

He smiled at me like the wolf who'd corner his prey. Then he lowered his lips to mine and kissed me like he meant it. When he moved his lips to let me breath, he trailed light kisses down my neck. "There will be kissing now, Babe. The good stuff comes later. Let's eat and I'll make you another deal."

Hum? "What kind of deal, Batman?"

"Not that kind." He said sensing my intentions of having him naked before the soup got cold. "We can work out the details of that deal after we eat. While we eat, you tell me about your first marriage."

"Where's the deal in that?" I asked, taking the bowl he offered me and grabbing the basket of bread.

He grabbed the pot of soup and a bottle of wine. "You tell me about yours, and I'll tell you about mine."

I almost dropped the bread. "You were married?"

He nodded, popping the cork on the wine and pouring us both a glass. "For just over a year."

"Better then my track record." I said. "I was married and divorced within four weeks. He cheated on me with this skank I went to school with."

He whistled. "Man's an idiot Babe. I may not be ready to settle down, but I can tell you one thing honestly."

"What's that?"

He passed me a glass of red wine and gave me another one of his dazzling smiles. "If I ever put a ring on your finger, it's not ever going to come off."

Holy hot flash Batman.

* * *

~Darkrose

Olympic fun fact- Where are they?

The 2012 Olympic Games with be the third time the Olympic games have been held in London. London also held: the 4th Olympic Games in,1908, and the 16th games in 1948. London will become the first individual city to ever host the games three times.

The United States have hosted the games 8 times since their beginning: St. Louis-1904(Summer), Lake Placid- 1932(Winter), Los Angeles-1932(Summer), Squaw Valley- 1960(Winter), Lake Placid-1980(Winter), Los Angeles-1984(Summer), Atlanta- 1996(Summer), and Salt Lake City- 2002(Winter). No other country has hosted the games that many times.

Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are some of the largest countries in the world that have not yet held an Olympic games.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you for all of your wonderful support, even after my little break. Now let us not waste time and get straight to the good stuff.

* * *

"Fight for it"

Chapter 6

**Pov- Stephanie**

Over soup, warm bread, and wine I told Ranger all about the reign of the Dick, and his little Prick. At first, it was sort of depressing. Then I had my second cup of wine and the story started to sound better. Less like I was the loser who got cheated on and more like I was the vengeful bitch from hell who tore her scumbag husband apart. Ranger was grinning and laughing as I told him all about our loud, disastrous, divorce.

"What did you with the table?" Ranger asked.

He was leaning back in his chair, longs legs stretched out under the table. Every now and then our feet would touch and I'd grin like a fourth grader playing footsie. He was wearing the two little studs that turned me on so much and every now and then, they would catch the light and sparkle against his beautifully tanned skin.

"Best damned bon-fire you've ever seen." I said with a smirk. "I wish I would have through to roast marshmallows over it."

He laughed. "Very therapeutic."

"Yeah, it helped a lot."

"And you haven't let yourself get close to anyone since?" He guessed. "You don't want to take the risk of getting hurt again."

He nailed me right on the head. Was I really that easy to read? "I left town after the legal papers were signed. Once I was with Amber and Brandon I didn't have time for anyone, not that I would have anyway."

I swirled the wine in my cup, thinking I should probably slow down. I'd always been a light weight when it came to alcohol and I hadn't had any in almost a year. "So what about you?" I asked, trying to get the topic away from me. "Let me guess, she couldn't handle the long trips overseas that are part of your military contact?"

He shook his head. "No, I meet Rachel on leave three years ago, out on the east coast. She lives in Miami."

I raised an eyebrow when he hesitated. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I said, giving him an out.

"Thought you wanted honesty, in this odd little relationship."

I nodded. "Honesty is different than me demanding you spill all of your secret to me." I sipped at my wine. "I want us to be honest and open about what we like in the bedroom and what sort of commitment lies between us for as long as we're sleeping together. Anything outside of that is none of my business unless you want to tell me. I'm not your girlfriend or your mother."

"Rachel was working as a waitress when I saw her for the first time." He continued. "I waited until her shift was over to speak with her. It was just supposed to be a one night stand."

Something was telling me this story was about to get a lot more interesting and a lot more personal. "But," I prompted.

"Rachel came to the base I was staying at and contacted me a few weeks later." He toasted his glass in my direction and downed the last bit of wine in it. "She was pregnant. I was the father."

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl," He said softly. "Her name is Julie." He looked at his glass like he was trying to talk himself into another one, then pushed it away all together. "I married Rachel out of obligation to our daughter. I was overseas when she gave birth. I pay child support, but Rachel and I were never in love, divorce was imminent."

"Do you see her often?" I asked. "Your daughter?" I never would have pictured Ranger as a father and I was deeply moved that he felt comfortable enough to tell me about her. I got the feeling that this wasn't well known information, even among his friends.

He shook his head slightly and there was a subtle sadness to him I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been paying so much attention to him the last few days. "No, I have only seen her twice since her birth. Rachel sends me photos sometimes. She looks a lot like me."

We cleared our dishes and worked together washing them in the sink. The solemn mood that had settled over diner was lifted as we flicked bits of soap at each other, both of us pretending that we weren't broken.

"And now," Ranger said as he set the last dish aside and pinned me against the counter again. "We outline the do's and don'ts of this arrangement so I can finally get you naked."

He smelled amazing and having him pressed against me quickly turned my train of thought to mush. I put my hands on his abs, lick my lips as they twitched under my fingers, and pushed him back a step. "Ok, but until we finish talking you can't touch me. I can't think when you're this close to me."

"Good to know."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Right and you're not affected by me at all." I teased.

"You drive me crazy," He said easily, taking my hand and letting me feel the hard length of him, hidden under his clothes. "I'm just better at controlling myself."

He poured two more glasses of wine and I took one against my better judgment. I was making all kinds of mistakes tonight, might as well go all the way. We sat down in the living room, both of us on the sofa, but turned so we were facing each other rather than touching.

"What do I need to know about Stephanie in the bedroom?" Ranger asked.

I blushed.

"Babe, if this is going to work, you need to be comfortable talking to me. I won't judge you."

"No butt stuff." I blurted out, quickly turning my attention to my wine while I blushed.

Ranger leered at me. "That's a shame. I bet I could teach you a few things you'd like back there. You've got an amazing ass, Babe."

"You could probably teach me a lot of things anyways." I admitted. "I've only been with a few different guys over the years and it's always been pretty basic stuff."

"Ok," He nodded. "No butt stuff and I'll move slowly before I pull out the whips and chains. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you. Deal?"

I got a rush of heat straight to my core at the idea of being chain up and helpless to a dominating Ranger. "I think I'd be ok with trying hand-cuffs." I admitted, trying not to sound shy.

"Good to know your open to suggestions."

"Don't get too crazy on me ok." I was already panting at the thought of just having him naked. I didn't need to go into cardiac arrest.

He smiled. "We will only move as fast as you're comfortable. Now, seeing as my past record is against me I feel obligated to ask you about birth control. I'm guessing a child would throw off your London plans."

I nodded. "Definitely out of the question for the foreseeable future. I'd be a terrible mom anyway. You don't need to worry about it, I'm on the shot. I'm good for another year and I don't have any diseases."

"I'm clean as well." He admitted.

"No sleeping with other girls, while were doing this." I added. "I'm known to be jealous and I don't feel like sharing."

"That goes both ways." He added seriously.

I nodded, liking the idea of a jealous Ranger. "What about when we're in public?" I asked. "I'm assuming you don't want everyone here to know your sleeping with me."

"The men here will probably guess what were up to when they see you coming to the penthouse more often." He said, "Although they'd never tell anyone, you and me least of all. Seeing how quickly news spreads around town though, we should probably stay away from Public displays of affection unless you want your mom to know about us."

"That would be fun." I said dryly, rolling my eyes at the ear full, I'd undoubtedly get from my mom if she found out I was shacking up with Ranger in my spare time.

Ranger smiled at me. "Your mom wouldn't approve of me I'm guessing."

"Are you Italian?"

He gave me a look that clearly stated he'd rather gnaw off his own left foot.

"Actually, it might be a good idea." I said. "I'm always looking for new ways to disappoint and humiliate her. You could come over for Sunday dinner and we could let her catch us making out on the kitchen counter. I'll wear my cross, you wear your gun. Are you Catholic?"

He nodded. "I was raised Catholic, however my own faith is in a constant state of flux."

"Mine, too." I admitted. "I can't remember the last time I went to church."

"Ok," He said. "In public our relationship is strictly professional. Up here or in your fourth floor apartment, we'll be safe from prying eyes and cameras."

"How often are we planning to get together?" I asked looking him over. I was already wondering how many times I could have him tonight.

Ranger looked me over the same way. "Babe, I plan on having you repeatedly. Any night you feel like you have the strength and I'm not working is fair game."

This time I leered at him. "I think my sex drive might surprise you." I admitted. "My shower massager and I are known to go several rounds a day when I'm in a bad mood."

He smiled. "I've heard that." He said. "It sounded like you were having a good time, but I should tell you now that I'm great in the shower. Once I'm done with you, your shower massager will never be adequate again. I intend to ruin you."

I blushed, he couldn't mean what I thought he did. Had he heard me that day after my apartment had been fire bombed?!

Ranger slid across the sofa, one hand wrapping low around my waist, the other taking my empty wine glass away from me and setting it on a side table. "Yeah Babe, we heard everything."

"We?" I gulped.

"Santos was there too remember?"

"Oh God." I could feel the panic attack coming on but it, and my humiliation, were both forgotten as Ranger pulled me closer and lowered me so I was lying on the sofa and he was kneeling over me. One of his hands tangled in my hair, forcing me to keep eye contact.

"You ready Babe?" He asked.

He already had one hand under my shirt and I moaned when the pad of his thumb brushed against the underside of my breast. I fisted one of my own hands in his hair and pulled him to me for a bruising kiss. I'd been ready for this all week.

We must have kissed for hours as we explored each other's bodies. Ranger was a very physical person. From the moment we started, he never stopped touching me. His hands were everywhere, brushing against my over heated skin. Ranger found a soft spot behind my ear that drove me wild. He liked it when I played with his hair and scraped my nails down his back. I liked the way he kissed and the way he gently breathed my name.

I trailed my lips up to his ear, tugging gently on the lob. "I've had fantasies about these studs." I told him, nibbling around the two diamonds in his ear. "Every time you wear them to the gym I have naughty thoughts about stripping you naked and taking you right on my performance mat."

He looked at me with black, lustful eyes. "Bedroom, now." His voice was husky adding to the rush of wetness between my legs.

I nodded along and let him pull me to my feet, totally ready to be done with the foreplay We left a trail of clothes in our wake, kissing and nipping as we striped each other bare and got our first good looks at each other naked. I fell back onto the bed first as Ranger stepped out of his boots. He was glorious, hard and toned in all the right places.

"Your sheets are so soft." I moaned, pushing myself farther up the bed. They had to be a million thread count. Although my skin was so warm it might have just been the feel of cool silk that made me even more sensitive.

Ranger crawled after me, shaking his head slightly. "Babe," I think he found me amusing.

I was so wound up I knew I wouldn't last long as soon as he put his hands back on me. He ran his hands up my legs, his lips ghosting against the soft insides of my knees and then my thighs.

"Ranger," I begged, whimpering as his finger outlined my most sensitive areas.

He blew against my center and I jumped. "Relax, Babe." He cooed, throwing a long arm across my hips to keep me still. "We have all night,"

"Want you now." I managed to pant through clenched teeth.

"You will have me Babe." He promised. "I want to taste you first."

Then he lowered his mouth to my lady bits and I came instantly. My orgasm washed over me like pure fire, hard and unexpected. Every nerve I had stood on end and I think I howled. Ranger kept his mouth on me while I rode out the waves of bliss. His warm tongue stroking me, confident and hard, as he lapped up everything my body had to offer him for his efforts.

"So sweet Babe," He murmured, kissing his way up the rest of me. "You taste amazing."

I was still panting as he kissed my cheek and nuzzled against my neck. "It's been awhile for you hu?" He guessed.

I nodded. "Your _way_ better then my shower massager. That was so intense." He was way better than anything I'd ever experienced before. If that was just what Ranger oral did to me, I could only imagine what a mess I'd be after a couple of real ones.

"It's about to get better, Babe."

My legs spread automatically for him as he lined up with my center and I hissed as he slowly slid every thick inch of himself inside. He spread me wide and filled me more completely then any partner I'd ever taken in before. Holy crap he felt amazing.

"So good, Babe." He said against my ear, once he was all the way in. "You're so tight." He said a few other things, but it took me a second to realize they were all in Spanish. It was so hot I almost came again. He was hard, the perfect length for me, fitting like a long forgotten missing piece.

"Ranger," I begged. He'd staid still, giving me time to adjust to his size. I rocked my hips a bit, aching for more. "Move, please."

He held himself above me, just enough to take off the weight and pulled all the way out. "This isn't gunna be slow Babe." He said, thrusting all the way back in a single go. I moaned against his neck, loving the feel of him. "It's been a while for me too."

"Faster." I agreed. "I can take it." Burn me Batman.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I woke up the next morning to a beep from Ranger's watch, where we'd tossed it on the floor. I stirred against his chest and felt his arms tighten around my waist.

"Morning, Babe."

I snuggled deeper, breathing in his scent as well as the scent of us that was all over the room. "Morning." We'd slept through the night, waking periodically to share fast, mind numbing, world rocking, sex. I was deliciously sore and well rested, feeling better than I had in a long, long time.

"Is Santo's meeting you for yoga this morning?" He asked.

I ground, "Yes, what time is it?" I'd never hear the end of it if Lester caught me up here.

"You've got time." He reassured me. The arms around me moved, pulling me up his chest for a light kiss. His mouth was warm and his stubble scratched against my cheeks. He was all soft from sleep and so damn sexy.

"I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

He shushed my complaints and rolled me over, sliding his tongue into my mouth at the same time as he slid his morning wood into my center. My legs settled easily around his waist. All thoughts of brushing gone as we rocked together easily. Our bodies knowing exactly what they wanted and what we could get from each other. We'd gone a number of rounds last night, but it was like we'd been doing this for years. His lips brushed against my cheeks and my neck. He left a pair of gentle kisses on my eyelids and then we were moving faster.

We peeked together, moaning the other's name. I shivered as he lowered his mouth to my neck for one last kiss against my raging pulse and breathed my name against my skin. Having him like this, all warm and soft and smelling like us, it was easy to see how quickly I could lose myself if I forgot for even a moment that this wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

Ranger sat up, quickly, pulling me with him and nudged me in the direction of his bathroom. "Take a shower, Babe. I'll start coffee."

I walked into Ranger's bathroom and just about had another orgasm. Holy Crap! White and black marble, granite counter tops. His shower alone was the size of my entire bathroom down stairs. His and her stainless steel sinks and plush black towels. It was the king of bathrooms. I might never come back out.

I skipped the mirror, not wanting to see my hair after last night's marathon, and went straight to the shower. Seven silver head's around the wall gave constant spray and the bench along the back was giving me ideas for the day Ranger cashed in on his shower promise.

I used his shampoo and then found a bottle of the Bulgaria green tea body wash he always smelled like. Jack Pot! I lathered and rinsed twice, loving the smell of him and the memories, the scent brought back of last night. Ranger truly was the greatest lover I'd ever had. I'd lost count of how many times I'd come in the last twelve hours.

He'd kept his promise of going slow, but even without getting freaky I'd tried a number of new things with him and learned a few things about myself as well. I dried off and wrapped myself in a plush black robe, since I didn't have any clean clothes to wear. I glanced in the mirror and was a little disappointed to see that Ranger hadn't left any marks from last night. I suppose it was for the best though, it would be hard to explain away a hicky.

I found Ranger in the kitchen, standing over a glass of black coffee. He smiled when he saw me in the robe and nodded to a set of clothes folded on the table. "I ran down stairs and got you some things."

"Thanks."

He'd grabbed me clean panties as well as a sports bra to go with the track shorts and tank top combo for my morning yoga. I thought about blushing that he'd been in my underwear drawer, but since he'd already seen me naked it felt like wasted effort.

I undid the robe and heard Ranger moan as I laid it over the back of the couch and grabbed the panties. "See something you like?" I teased, pulling the black lace on.

"I thought I saw a tattoo last night." He mused and I jumped when he trailed one warm finger along the back edge of my panties. "Is there a story behind it?"

I turned around and smiled at him, stepping back so I wouldn't jump him again. "I told you last night I'm Wonder Woman." I pulled on the sports bra and tank-top fast and grabbed the shorts. "I got it after I moved to New York. I guess I needed a confidence booster. She's my inspiration."

The little Wonder Woman logo was low on the backside of my right hip. There were days I wondered what convinced me to get it, but mostly I was glad to have it with me.

"I like it." He said.

I stepped into the shorts and grabbed the second cup of coffee, waiting for me. "Good, because it was staying either way." Ranger had already doctored up my coffee and I took a long sip. The clock on the wall beeped five and I knew if I didn't leave soon, Lester would beat me to my own room.

Ranger hooked a finger in the waistband of my shorts and pulled me close. He gave me a quick, panties wetting kiss then pulled back. "I'll have your clothes washed." He said, turning me towards the door. "Have fun with Santos."

Lester was leaning against the frame when I stepped out of the elevator. He raised an eyebrow at me as I neared him and then grinned. "Congratulations."

I rolled my eyes, and let myself in. "Shut up."

"No, I'm serious." Lester said following me in. "This is great. Ranger will finally cool down. I'm betting you feel better too, you're glowing."

"No I'm not." I pulled on socks and my tennis shoes.

"Have you looked at yourself, Beautiful?" Lester asked passing me back my coffee and following me into the hall, once I'd grabbed my bag. "You could probably keep this whole building lit for the day.

I shook my head and took a few sips of my coffee. "Maybe so, but it's a secret so keep your mouth shut ok?"

He hit the button for the garage and hooked an arm around my shoulders. "Whatever you say Beautiful." He paused and then slid me a big wolf grin. "How was it?"

On in inside I was dancing. It had been one of the greatest nights of sex in my inter life. On the outside I ignored him, keeping my eyes locked forward and my attention on my coffee. Lester just laughed.

Once again, we were the first set of people in the park this morning. In order to keep a better look out for crazy, firebombing madmen, Lester had requested that we do our work-outs closer to the parking lot and away from the open expanse of land near the lake. I didn't care either way. For forty-five minutes, I worked to keep my breath rate even as Lester led us through move after move.

After yoga, we stopped to change clothes and eat breakfast with the guys. I grabbed a spice muffin and dropped into the chair between Lester and Cal. I swung my legs over the arm and picked at my breakfast, letting myself get lost in thought while they chatted about some bust they'd done last night. If any of them noticed my "glow' they didn't say anything and I was glad.

"We get anything new in on Steph's case?" Lester asked.

I turned back to the conversation to catch what they'd say.

"Nothing yet, so far as I've heard." Bobby said over his oatmeal. "None of Ranger's overseas contacts are finding anything."

"Maybe it's not someone overseas at all." Hal suggested. "Could be something closer to home."

Most of the guys didn't think that was likely and I agreed. Amber and Brandon were on good terms with most of the other America gymnastics trainers. I was having a hard time believing that someone from my own Country would want to kill me. Over all, without more evidence, it was looking like Ranger and his guys would hit a dead end.

"Maybe I should make myself more obvious." I offered.

The guys looked at me like I'd grown a second head with big curling ram horns or something.

"I'm serious." I said, sitting up farther. "I'm sick of hiding out like the victim. Maybe I should do another article, say how excited I am for the upcoming Olympics or something like that. Walk around outside and hope they take another shot at me. Maybe you'll get more evidence."

"Only if they mess up." Cal said. "So far they've been very clean."

"Not a chance Beautiful." Lester shot me down fast. "No one here's going to risk your safety like that. If they're serious about coming after you, they'll do it wither you make it easy for them or not."

Bobby shrugged. "A news article might be a good idea though. Stir up the waters, as it were. Besides it can't hurt your game to put your name out there more right?"

"Only if it gets me shot."

No one laughed at my poor joke and that was ok. I really wasn't looking forward to possible getting shot. I really couldn't afford any kind of injury. All this talk of being shot at and stalked was working me up. I pushed aside my muffin and stood up.

"Let's go Les, I need to hit something."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We walked into the gym fifteen minutes later and I changed into my work clothes. When I came out of the bathroom, Lester was holding my ball in one hand and, the silver hoop I used in practice, in the other.

"Which one first?" He asked. "These are my two favorites."

I smiled at him. "The hoop is my favorite too, but I want to work on the floor number first. We never got to it yesterday."

He nodded and went off to set up my music, while I started warming up. We stretched, and then I ran laps. Just as I was about to suggest we start working when my phone buzzed. It was Amber, calling for her daily check-in.

"Hi Am," I said, holding the phone to my ear, while I sat down on the mat.

"Morning Steph, How are things going?"

I slept with Ranger! But, I wasn't going to tell her that part, at least not yet. "Everything's going good. I feel good. Les and I were just about to work on the floor number for a bit."

She asked about some corrections she'd asked me to work on in the ribbon number and then wanted to speak with Lester. They usually talked for a while so Amber could give Lester specific things to work on for the day and what he should watch out for.

I grabbed my hoop and made my way out to the mat to work by myself. I started slow, spinning the hoop first around my arm before sliding it to my waist. Lester caught my eye from across the room and I decided to show off a little. I let the hoop fall down to my knees, stepped out and kicked it into the air. I did a quick tumble and caught it back around my legs.

Lester gave me a little thumbs up and I stuck my tongue out at him. He loved it when I did those really flashy moves, and the hoop was my favorite tool to play with. Once he was off the phone, he waved me over.

"If you're done showing off."

I gave him an innocent smile and hung my hoop up. "Yes coach."

"Good, I've got your track up. What's this song again?"

I rolled my eyes at him and moved back out onto the mat. "It's the orchestral track to 'Your Song' by: Elton John. The version used in Moulin Rouge. I still can't believe you've never seen that movie. It's sooo good."

"I'm not really a musical kind of guy." He admitted.

"It takes place in a whore house. The leading lady's a burlesque dancer. Sounds right up your ally to me."

He grinned at that. "Then we'll add it to our list for movie night. Terminator and Whore houses over popcorn."

"If we ever have time for it." With the hours, we kept in the gym and the time I'd now be giving to Ranger, I was doubting I'd have time to tie my own shoes.

"We'll make time." He promised. "If not now, then after you bring home the gold. You didn't really think we were all going to let you just walk away from us when this mess is over did you? Every man at RangeMan already loves you, I'm afraid you're stuck with a bunch of big, scary, new best friends."

I smiled at that. "Are you guys going to come to London with me?"

He nodded. "That's the plan, as long as we haven't caught the bad guy by then. You'll have twenty-four hour RangeMan top security. Ranger's already contacted Olympic officials to fill them in on the possibility of us coming with you."

"I thought we were trying to keep the threats out of the papers?" I asked. "What happened to keeping a low profile?"

He shrugged. "For your own safety, they'll have to keep quiet about it for now. However, there's no way we'll be able to hide this forever. You might want to talk to Amber and Brandon about that later. They might want to set up an interview or something so it comes out on their own terms."

"I'll call her later." I promised. "What does she want us to work on today?"

"More of the same. Floor, the end of the ball number, and clubs for today. She expects me to call her later with an update on how you're doing." He hit the button to start my floor music.

Ever since Lester had started telling the guys about what exactly it was I did in the gym, they'd been trying to find ways of slipping over and seeing it for themselves. Usually, they'd offer to bring over lunch or take turns on monitors so they could see into the gym.

By the time lunch rolled around today, I had a full audience. Cal, Hal and Woody had all come to join us, bringing Greek salads, rolls and a mix basket of fruit for lunch.

"That was the best one yet, Beautiful." Lester said as the music for my floor routine faded away. I nodded yanking the tie out of my hair so I could re-pin it up. I hated when sweaty hair stuck to my neck.

The guys watching from the sidelines, clapped and whistled. I wasn't used to having attractive men watching and cheering for me so I blushed. I gave them a little wave and looked back to Lester.

"What's next?" I asked.

"It's noon." He said. "Lunch time if you're hungry, or you could give the guys a real show and do your ball number. Then you could make them all really uncomfortable."

I shook my head. "No way, pick a different one."

In the end, the guys voted to see the hoop number. Lester changed my CD for me and soon I was flying around the mat to the song "Gypsy: by Ronan Hardiman." It was one of my faster numbers and let me show off some harder tricks, sure to score high, as long as I didn't drop it. I hit the last note having just snagged the hoop out of the air and did a little curtsy when everyone clapped.

I put my gear away and joined the guys on the floor for food. They told funny stories about some of RangeMan's first cases until Cal and Hal got called away to chase a bad guy. Woody hung around to see each of my other numbers and asked Lester a ton of questions about what exactly he was supposed to be looking for. Lester was able to answer most of his questions and I was going to try and remember to tell Ranger he deserved a raise. He'd gone way above and beyond learning all of this stuff to help me train.

Lester and I finally called it quits around nine. I forced myself to soak in an ice bath for ten minutes. I dragged myself to the break room and made myself eat one of Ella's pre-made sandwiches. I showered in my own bathroom and was wondering what my protocol with Ranger was. Should I call him? Or could I just show up at his door on seven? What if he wasn't even there?

I walked into the bedroom, wrapped only in a little black towel and nearly screamed. Ranger was lounged across my bed, bare-chested. His gun belt and boots already on the floor. The guy could move like a shadow, I hadn't even heard him come in.

He smiled at me and curled one, dark finger in my direction. "Come here."

* * *

~Darkrose

Olympic Fun Fact: Who to watch?

For the 2012 games, the United States will only be sending one girl to represent our country in Rhythmic Gymnastics. Julie Zetlin 21, of Maryland, will be the first athlete the US has entered in Rhythmic Gymnastics since the 2004 Games (sadly our country is not known to do well in this sport) . Good Luck Julie!


End file.
